Still Breathing
by ALaViola
Summary: A goody-two-shoes dancer with a mask and a rebellious singer with a dark past. Will love develop? Or will their meeting just be another unfortunate event? NaLu
1. Prologue

**s trying to sleep.**

 **So this is what turned up in this idea,**

 **This is going to take me a lot longer than most stories**

 **Because of its extensive chapters.**

 **I will try to update as much as I can but I don't know how**

 **Often that will be**

 **So please bear with me.**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters_**

 **And just so you know, this is a NaLu, not focusing around Laxus,**

 **just for the prologue it will be like this**

 **so hopefully you enjoy this new story!**

 **Love ya**

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'Hey, I never said -'_**

 ** _Prologue_**

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

Finally they had told him, the two adults had been questioning themselves on how to approach their five year old son on the topic of why his mother was growing larger in size around the stomach or why she was so moody all the time, but somehow they had told him and he was now-at the moment -sitting across from them at the table, baffled by the information they had just relayed. He was confused to no end and yet curious at the same time, but they just stared at him expectantly as he stared right back, not knowing what he was supposed to say. He just sat there catatonically, what was a five year old supposed to say after his father had told him his mother was ' _pregnant_ '? He didn't even really understand what that meant; he was only five after all.

The young boy repeated the same thing he was told but worded it as a question; his mother was smiling as he asked what they meant and couldn't understand why she was so delighted at his confusion. He turned to his father who slowly started to explain with an equally elated smile on his face, they were just all smiles today while he sat there, confused as ever. His parents glanced at each other before his father spoke,

"Yes son, _pregnant_." He repeated slowly, explaining this was proving to be difficult, the growing ache in his head backing up his accusation, "That means Mama is going to have another baby, you're going to have a little brother or sister!" he beamed at his son. His joy could not be described in any form of words, the day he found out his wife was pregnant with Laxus-their first born- he was overjoyed, so much that he shed a tear, and now hearing he was going to have another baby with his beloved made him feel blissful.

They looked at Laxus expectantly, only hoping for the best of reactions, but again they received nothing but a blinking blonde boy sitting across from them with a disbelieving look plastered on his face. The boy's father briefly questioned himself on whether or not he had been able to get through to the boy but he quickly dispersed the thought, his son was not a genius but he was smart enough to figure this out with the information he had provided. "A...baby?" the blonde asked slowly as his eyes dropped to his mother's-not-so- scarce stomach and pointed with furrowed brows, "is that why Mama's so fat?" he asked bluntly, turning to his father expectantly, who had blanched at his sons inquiry.

"Uh-" he remained unresponsive, only staring dumbly at his son, indeed he had picked up his quality of insensitivity, opposed to his vibrant, loving and altruistic mother. "Well-uh, son I-er-" he blabbered, knowing nothing of what to tell his son, on one hand the boy was right and yet on the other he wasn't exactly wrong either but that was besides the point of his worries, yes of course his wife was growing in size, she had a baby growing within her so she was going to get bigger, but to say that in front of her face. It was not an admirable thing to do for either of them. Though he admired his sons bravery to say something as such, he, on the other hand, was apprehensive as he glanced at his wife's strained smile. "Well sort of kiddo," he casted an apologetic glance at his wife before turning to his perplexed son.

Slowly he stood up from the table, the chair screeching as it slid back across the floor followed by a small thud as Laxus planted his dangling feet on the hardwood floor. Still, he had not provided them with any sort of response besides his insensitive comment on his mothers increasing weight as he plodded toward the door leading to their living room. "Son-?" Laxus paused as his hand gripped the cool, metallic handle of the stained glass door and thought for a quick moment contemplating on whether or not to speak his mind before deciding to go along with it.

"...it's not welcomed." he told them gratingly before pulling the door open with one amble motion and slammed it behind him, leaving his parents speechless in his wake. Layla looked down sadly at the bump on her stomach and sighed, she was so happy to find out she was pregnant again. They had been trying for a long time after Laxus was born but nothing positive had ever come up in the numerous test's she had taken to see if she were with child, and when she took it all those months ago to find that she was indeed pregnant she had been elated and immediately told her husband over the phone, not caring that he was at work at that time.

Although her happiness was short-lived hearing her son say that the child she was bearing was not welcomed into this house by him, and though he had no say in the matter, Layla still wished for her son to welcome his younger sibling. Looking over to her husband after feeling his calloused yet gentle hand on her shoulder she observed him. He too, looked a little saddened by their sons words but his lips quirked up nonetheless, his silver dyed hair slicked back with a few bangs falling onto his forehead, Layla still had no clue as to why he had kept insisting on dying his hair silver, she had teased him saying he looked older than what he was but he just smiled kindly in return.

Her eyes traveled around his tense body from his broad shoulders to his muscular legs, he was holding back his emotions- she could tell,-being with someone for years proved just that. She leaned her head against the back of his hand which still rested on her slender shoulders and stared into his captivating blue eyes. "He'll come around Layla, he just needs time to adjust." she sighed again and looked away indifferently,

"And if he doesn't?" she asked, a gleam of insecurity flashing in her eyes as her husband stared back into her brown orbs, stroking her cheek lovingly as he did.

"He'll have to," he told her, leaving no room for argument. He glanced toward the door his son had left through and sighed, maybe he should go and see him considering he was the one that hindered the situation in the beginning. He kissed his wife's hand before sliding out of his chair with an annoying screech and stood up, dropping Layla's hand in the process as she frowned and gripped the end of his shirt as he attempted to follow after Laxus. "Yes?" he inquired as he looked down at the blonde griping his shirt.

"Where are you going?" it was a simple question and yet he found it difficult to respond, he wanted to talk to their son about things but he wasn't sure if Layla even wanted him to do that much, he wondered if she wanted to wait and leave the situation alone and wait to see what Laxus thought later on but he wasn't sure if his mind would change its opinion on the matter, his stubbornness was one thing he did gain from his mother aside from his blonde locks.

"I was going to talk with Laxus, just simple stuff." He explained vaguely, hoping she would ot question him further on the subject, though he knew she meant no harm, sometimes a father had to do what he felt was right and now was one of those times. He felt his shirt flutter back against his skin and silently turned toward the door again,

"Wesslogia..." he heard his wife call as his hand felt the cool metal of the doorknob, he turned his head slightly at the sound of his name being called and saw Layla smiling softly at him, a glint of hope in her eyes. "Don't be too hard on him dear, he is only five and he's always been the only one with us ever since." she reminded, a nostalgic smile playing on her lips, most likely thinking of the years spent dotting on the young boy. Wesslogia smiled lightly at her and nodded before opening the door and walking into their living room before closing the door behind him.

Wesslogia sighed at his sons ignorance, he could understand why Laxus would be upset, having a new member added to their quiet family so suddenly could be surprising and being an only child for so long, he wouldn't even think of ever having a younger sibling and yet here he was being told that he was no longer the family's baby. His own brother was like that too when he had found out that he wasn't the only child anymore, a few times he had actually neglected to feed Wesslogia while their mother and father were out, though he had taken the consequences after for it, he was still indifferent to having a little brother.

Leisurely walking into the quiet hall, he passed a few doors before halting in front of Laxus' lightning bolt-covered door. With his slicked back hair and pointed spikes going backwards with a few strands falling in his face had an odd scar on his right eye, though a scar was bit dramatic, it was more of a birthmark so to say and although it was barely visible, it could be seen under a light. Laxus had been born with a lightning bolt shaped birthmark over his right eye, how it had formed like that over his eye was a mystery to the doctors but the blonde seemed to like it, always said _'I look like a superhero with lightning magic!_ ' his son was quite imaginative, thinking himself a superhero with _'lightning magic'_ was very creative of him.

He knocked on the door lightly, calling out to his son as he did but when he only received an annoyed grunt in reply he sighed and opened the door quietly to see Laxus sitting on his black duvet covered bed, pouting with his yellow dragon plush in his hands. Silently, he made his way to the edge of his sons bed before seating himself on it as the five year old turned his head away from his father to stare out the window, suddenly finding the green tree outside his window interesting. "Son..." Wesslogia groaned in slight annoyance,

"..." the blonde boy just continued to stare outside the window, watching as the branches of the tree moved in a undulate motion. ' _Lucky_ ,' he thought, staring at the waving tree out the window, _'you don't even have to share your dirt. Why do I have to share my mom and dad?'_ He sighed in annoyance at the situation. Even a tree- which there were many of around the neighborhood- had its own land to grow in without worry of interacting with another tree, its roots free to grow anywhere in the ground, its branches free to wave in the wind and its leaves free to fall when the temperature dropped.

"Laxus, Your mother and I have been trying to have another baby for a long time now," he started; hopefully this expiation would get through to his son. "This is the first time we found out that we were going to have another baby after having you," he lightly rapped his sons head to get Laxus to look at him, "We were so happy, and your mother was overjoyed to have another baby, so much that she had called me while I was in the bathroom at work," he chuckled.

"The place with the big red trucks?" his son asked, a small sparkle of mischief in his eyes at remembering the day he went to visit Wesslogia at work and wound up riding with them in the _'big red trucks_ ' as he called them when they were called for an emergency. The silver haired male chuckled and ruffled his son's hair, nodding as he did.

"Yes son. The _fire trucks_." he let out a laugh before continuing, "But what you said to your mother and I-that made her really sad especially because she is the one with the baby you don't welcome inside her belly, we want you to get along with your little-" Laxus turned to him with a suspicious eye and asked,

"Mom made the baby? That's why it's in her?" He asked innocently, still a little confused on the whole concept of a baby growing inside his mother's stomach for so long. Wesslogia looked at his son for a moment, thinking before shaky his head slightly.

"No, it takes two people to make a baby son-" his eyes widened at what he said. What was he saying? He glanced at his son, praying that he did not pick up on what he had uttered but Mavis was against him as his son tilted his head to the side in a confused manner, asking the dreaded question that the elder man had implanted in his head.

"How does it take two people to make a baby?" There was the question that Wesslogia had only hoped for his son not to ask but Laxus had already spoke the words and now he only had a small amount of time to explain what he meant, but how could he explain something to his five year old son who was only in grade one, something he shouldn't learn for another few years. Wesslogia scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and babbled dumbly to his son,

"Uh, well you see son-" this was going to be hard for the twenty-five year old man. "Um, well the daddy and mommy have to really, really want the baby for it to happen-" he glanced at his son as he nodded with a face of concentration on, "-and the daddy has to put his head on the mommy's stomach and ask for a baby." He nodded to himself at his explanation; this would save him the embarrassment for another couple of years before he set him straight.

"But you said you and Mom were trying for a baby for a long time. If you only ask than why-?" ' _Damn'_ he thought bitterly, 'why _did you have to get your mothers intellect? Why couldn't you be dumb like your father?'_ he made an act of looking on either side of him, as if he was going to tell Laxus a big secret before leaning forward to his awaiting son.

"Because when the daddy asks, he's asking the baby fairy-" he smirked when he heard his son gasp with wide eyes filled with wonder, "-and the baby fairy is very busy but I guess she got time to give us our baby, like she did with you." He smiled, his eyes crinkling in the slightest, "So you see son, that's why me and your mother want you to get along with your younger brother or sister, because the baby fairy is very hard to get in contact with," his son nodded and sniffled a bit as Wesslogia sighed, "Why are you crying Laxus?"

"I'm not crying!" He denied with a raspy voice, "Men don't cry! And I am a man!" he cried out and rubbed at his eyes tirelessly as his father sighed and grabbed his hands, pulling them away from his face in the process.

"Real men cry all the time Laxus," he told the young blonde he held in his arms, he could feel the slight shake in his shoulders as he shook his head, still profusely denying of 'leaking' any such liquids from his eyes.

"Crying is for the weak," he told his dad, not noticing the tremble in his shoulders as he stared Wesslogia in the eye, "I'm not weak so I don't cry." That was what he always thought crying is only for the weak and if that person cried than they were not strong enough to handle situation that were thrown at them every day, although he knew he cried as a baby, Laxus would just deny reasons as to why if he were lonely or was tired and would say that he was just figuring out who he wanted to be, a weak crybaby or a strong man; Which he chose the latter.

Wesslogia stared at his son, he didn't know where his son got the idea that a man crying is no man at all, even he had cried when he married Layla, when his first son was born, when his father died, and when he found out that they would be having another baby, countless times had he cried and he still considered himself to be as much of a man as the next. He looked down to the shaky boy in his arms and pulled him closer until his small face was pressed into his chest and smiled softly down at him, kissing his birthmark to which Laxus just groaned and wiped off a minute later, "People cry not because they are weak Laxus," he said, grabbing the blonde boys attention, "They cry because they've been strong for too long."

Wesslogia looked down at his son as he felt his shirt gradually dampening with each strangled sob coming from his son, and he groaned when he noticed snot coming from Laxus' nose and dripping onto his shirt, "I don't want to share you and Mom!" he cried and finally the elder male knew why his son resented the idea of them having another baby. Laxus didn't want to share his parents, he rubbed his sons back soothingly as his cries slowly started to stop before the door opened. He glanced to the side to see his impregnated wife standing there with a look of confusion on her face.

"Wesslogia?" she mouthed and glanced down at their now quiet son who had been sobbing only moments ago, he shook his head with a quiet sigh before letting out a cry of shock as his son-tear stained face and all- jumped up on his feet on the bed and pointed an accusing finger at his mother's stomach, letting out a shrill cry as he did so.

"I'm going to make the baby fairy go away so you can't have another baby!" He shouted triumphantly at his ' _genius'_ plan and started to ramble on about how he would successfully make the _'baby fairy'_ disappear so he wouldn't have to share his mother and father and continuously glared at the small lump forming in his mothers stomach. Layla stared at her son in confusion, what was he going on about?

"Laxus sweetie?" she called out, halting his announcement of his plans momentarily as she continued, her head tilting to the side as she asked, "Baby fairy?" her son nodded enthusiastically and punched his clenched fist into his awaiting palm in a sign of dominance against the supposed 'baby fairy'. He grinned at Layla,

"Yeah, Dad told me that babies come from the baby fairy if Dad's ask them for them on a Mom's belly!" He explained briefly, summarizing what his father had told him.

"He did, did he?" she casted a side glance at her husband and he gulped under her harsh glare, knowing too well that they would be talking about what he had taught their son later that night after Laxus had fallen asleep. Wesslogia shivered at how formidable his wife could be when angered, and to know he was on the receiving end just made everything that much more frightening.

"Dad...?"

"Yes son?"

"How do I make the baby fairy go away?"

* * *

 **.**

 **Still Breathing**

 **.**

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

Laxus looked around excitedly as he walked hand-in-hand with his parents around the carnival, it had been a few months since Layla and Wesslogia had dropped the baby bomb on their five year old son and decided to take him to the newly re-opened yearly carnival, the blonde boy was still opposed to the idea of having a younger sibling and was even caught at some times in the day glaring at his mother's large stomach as if it were Zeref itself. Of course his mother and father were still quite upset by the fact that their son was still indifferent about the baby and thought maybe this would help soothe his distress.

Laxus, although barely, knew what his parents were trying to do with taking him to different places like this, first they had gone to the ice cream store than they went to the beach and now they were going to one of the most popular carnival's in all of Fiore. He wasn't gullible like his father had hope and he had smiled proudly at his realization and happily swung his and his parents hands back and forth as they lifted him by the hands very so often to which he would let out a boisterous laugh and a large smile.

The smaller blonde let his eyes wander as they walked around the carnival grounds, taking his time to observe each and every clown and or cosplayer they passed, it wasn't completely new to Laxus, but it was interesting to see how everything had change within a year. He would drag his parents onto every ride he was allowed on and would not stop until the sun dropped from its peak in the sky to just over the small hills and then they would watch the fireworks show until he passed out and was carried home.

Looking up to the sky he squinted at the light the sun radiated as it shone brightly above him in the sky, it was already unbelievably hot in Magnolia considering they were already in early June and Laxus had already had enough of the heat, though he did love the intensity of the sun some days, other times he just wanted the rain to come out so he could watch longingly as the electric bolts shot through the sky in an dangerous race. The way he would see it was that each lightning bolt would shoot down as quickly as they could, faster than the next, each trying to top the other as the referee being the thunder would let out a thunderous noise in a signal for them to start, some hesitating after the noise, others shooting straight down, not the slightest hesitation in their mad dash of light.

A lot of the children at school thought that it was strange that he liked to watch the rain, some even going as far to call him depressing yet he would just deny it with a shake of his head and smile while filling them in on what they were missing. Laxus stared at the large amounts of people passing them, the carnival was a large success from what the young boy could see and he was glad that his favorite ride was doing good-which just happened to be a ride that spun people around until they were sick and was named 'tornado', a name Laxus thought suited the ride well.

"Laxus!" despite the noise, he could distinctively hear his name being called in the distance, glancing lazily to the side to see one of his friends, Mirajane Strauss, pulling her parents hands as she ran toward him. Instantly he dropped his parents hands and shoved them into the pockets of his pants to which his parents giggled at, having seen the boy act differently whenever he was with them than when he was out with his friends and though he was normally quiet and passive around them he was more so around his friends, always acting like he didn't care when really his big heart throbbed, full of life.

"Hi, Mira..." he greeted curtly, grunting when he was attacked by the natural silver haired girl for a hug to which he awkwardly returned, a bashful expression on his face as he turned his head away from hers in a huff as they released each other. Mirajane looked at her blonde friend and giggled at his attitude and gripped her parents hands as she walked back to them before noticing the large stomach Layla was sporting, she gasped.

"Baby!" Laxus glanced at his friend after hearing her loud exclamation to see her pointing at his mother stomach with a far-off look in her eyes. He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest as he ignored her squeals of excitement. "Awe! I want one!"

The young blondes eyes widened at her excitement and briefly glanced over at her mother holding a small boy in her arms and a growing stomach of her own, "You want a baby Mira?" he didn't get what was so exciting about having a kid grow in their mothers stomach and making them look like they were fat, but in general, he didn't get what was so great about having kids at all. In his eyes it was no special thing, it was something he saw everyday walking to his school with his friends, and to say the least, he found it annoying.

The blue eyed girl titled her head in a confused manner, slightly taken aback by the question he had uttered before nodding slowly, a dreamy look on her face as she smiled, "Yeah, I really would!" she giggled at his surprised face, "they're so cute~!" Her squeals were interrupted by a groan coming from a Laxus as he scratched the back of his neck, why did his friend have to like babies of all things? Slowly he walked up in front of Mira until he was standing directly in front of her, a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks as he asked,

"You really want babies Mira?" she, again, nodded and beamed at him while he looked away for a moment before dropping to his knees and pressing the side of his head into his friends small stomach and whispered, "please let Mira have a baby..." before standing up and looking at the parents shocked expression and Mirajane's red face, "What?"

"Son, that's-that's not how it works..." his father explained carefully, trying not to get his son to drop his belief in the acclaimed 'baby fairy' to which Wesslogia was still thankful for his sons gullibility. "Mirajane has to be over eighteen and married for her to have a baby son, otherwise the baby fairy won't answer," he explained, giving his son a pointed look before apologizing to the adults across from them which happened to be good friends of the Dreyar family.

"L-Laxus..." the blonde glanced lazily at his friend, a bored expression masking his embarrassment at what he had just done but was surprised when Mirajane grabbed his hand and started to pull him around the carnival grounds, "let's go on some rides!" She cheered as their parents followed behind them with large smiles on each of their faces.

 ** _..._**

The group stayed at the carnival for many hours to come, each person having their own conversation with the other, Mira and Laxus about all the fun rides they were going to go on and how jealous their friends would be when they found out, Wesslogia and Akio Strauss spoke about having a barbeque next time they came over and Layla and Cornelia Strauss talked about their experiences during their pregnancy's. Finally, the sun was starting to set where the small hills were formed in the west and it was just about time for the fireworks show to start.

The two families walked against the current of the majority of the crow as they moved to find a place to put their blankets down and enjoy the show as they did every year, Laxus' favorite part of the show had to of been the ending, each year they would set of a large amount of fireworks into the sky and he and Mira would see if they could make out any shapes or animals. How their children could see such things within the beautiful fireworks, the parents couldn't even start to comprehend but as long as their children were happy than that was all that mattered to them.

Mira gazed up at the now brightly shinning stars in the sky, she found their beauty stunning and suddenly her gaze flickered to a familiar gold colored star, she gasped a looked over to the blonde next to her. "Laxus, have you heard of the story about the golden princess?" she asked quietly as the first set of fireworks lit up the sky in its beauty, each flashing a different color as the sounds of cheers resounded around the area. Laxus glanced at his friend curiously and shook his head, when had she ever been interested in things like this? "Mm, well I heard about it from a story book I found in the library when my mom brought me..." she paused as another firework went off bursting into a brilliant red.

 ***Boom!***

"The book was about a girl who had a sad life," she started, noticing how he had part of his attention as they watched the sky be lit up into a million colors. Mira could feel small tears gathering in her eyes as she thought of the story, although it was beautiful and was somehow a children's book it was quite sad, she had heard rumors about the book being accurate, "The girl lived in a happy home with her mama, papa and big brother." The silver haired girl smiled brightly and glanced over at her companion to see him staring at the stars, a far-away look in his eyes as he stared at the golden star, "but things started to happen and her happy family wasn't happy anymore..."

Laxus glanced at Mira as she paused to look at the golden star he was staring at not moments before and took a moment to observe her, she looked slightly saddened by what she was telling him and although he thought that he should tell her not to continue if it made her sad he refrained, "The girl's only friends were the stars, and one she loved most because of its unique gold color, but one night, she made a promise to say she would be with her friends in the sky soon..." The blonde nodded slightly, though his friend was horrible at telling a story he still listened with great interest, ignoring Mira's baby brother calling on his lap and silently rolled his eyes as Elfman repeated, 'Man, man, man, man, maaaan~' in his ear, to which he was not please to have the growing wetness in, courtesy of little Elfman Strauss. "One night when her friends were shinning a lot brighter than she had ever seen, she walked outside and found her last spot before she would meet her friends but just as she was about to jump, she was stopped by a boy with a _pecullar_ look..."

It was as if she were seeing the story played live as she gazed into the star above her, the girl finding the highest spot she had know of and stood at the end of the peak and just as she was about to join her friends in the sky, not exactly knowing how that would be but did what she thought would achieve that, and ended up being stopped by some strange boy whom she had never met before. Laxus looked at her with a raised brow when she stop and continued to stare at the star, "Well? What happened next?" Mira giggled softly and smiled at him when she turned her head, her nose crinkling in the slightest as her lips curled upward,

"That was it, but everyone says that when the gold star comes out like tonight that means that the girl will be reborn!" she giggled at his dumfounded look he stared at her, Laxus hadn't known of any book that could be left on that last sentence, he was sure now that he was going to go insane for not knowing what would happen. Mira turned her head and pursed her lips as she gazed out at the colors once again illuminating the sky and told him, "Someone tore the last page out so everyone just wrote down what they thought on the back,"

"Did you write something Mira?" she nodded with a wide smile spread across her face as she played with her baby brothers arms and wiggled them around as the boy laughed, "Well what did you write?" he asked, crossing his arms over his small chest as he poked his tongue into the side of his mouth, a habit he had developed en he was irritated. She sighed,

"That the boy and girl were friends and got married and had lots of babies~!" she squealed. Laxus sweat dropped, why did everything around him seem to involve babies lately, even his friend was talking about babies and though he had tried to contact the baby fairy earlier he still hated the thought of having one around him. Mira glanced at her friend before looking down at her brother, "Y'know Laxus, babies aren't that bad, maybe your new baby brother or sister will be the girl from the story." Laxus raised a brow,

"Wouldn't it be a girl if it were the one from the story?" he shrugged, 'I mean, I don't care either way, I still don't get what's so fun about having a baby..." The blonde sighed and ran a hand through his hair, here he was supposed to be enjoying himself at the carnival yet he could feel his irritation growing the more they talked about his new sibling. He could feel his friend's eyes on him and turned his head toward her to see her staring at him with a small fun,

"But babies are fun Laxus," the five year old snorted and rolled his eyes, just saying they were 'fun' was not going to prove anything. "Maybe you will like them more after you have one...?" he pondered on the thought but ended with a shake of his head, he doubted he would ever like babies and with the final fireworks exploding the blonde closed his eyes, exhaustion finally showing on his features.

* * *

 **.**

 **Still Breathing**

 **.**

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

Laxus stared at the two beings in front of him, slightly miffed by their presence as he eyed them and turned the page in his comic slowly, ignoring his cousins who were staring at the two on the floor. His eyes flickered toward his mother who was chatting admittedly to his aunt as she finished the rest of her cooking for dinner, it had been a year and a half since the blonde was informed of his mother's pregnancy and he was still not pleased by the fact that he now had two younger siblings.

According to his mothers doctor his little sister, Lucy, was unexpected and had been hiding behind her twin, Sting, in the first ultra sound they had gotten of the baby and yet his parents were overjoyed at the fact that they would be having twins. Again Laxus had been angered by the fact that now it wasn't just one little monster invading his home it was two and one was a girl. Though the six-year-old had nothing against the opposite gender he was slightly irked at the fact that another girl was entering his household when he thought his mother was all he needed for fear their house would turn into a girlish disaster.

Sting and Lucy Dreyar were born on July the second X767, a day of both happiness and sadness. His mother had been experiencing unbearable pains in her stomach and had been rushed to the hospital courtesy of his father, which ended up in him staying at his uncle's house and his father staying int he waiting room for an extra three hours before he got information on his wife's situation. Apparently something had gone wrong during Layla's pregnancy which resulted in the sharp pains she was receiving, and was reading to give birth, a month and a half early.

Wesslogia had been horrified at the news of his children's premature birth, worrying about if they were going to be alright, if his wife was going to be alright and so when it came time for their birth the doctor had given them the dreaded news. He had asked Wesslogia if they couldn't save one of the babies-due to blood loss and a complication in the news- he was to choose which twin he wanted to save. Layla had been passed out and had no way of responding to the tragic question and so it was up to him and yet he still has yet to respond as to who he would save.

Wesslogia had shook his head and sat by his wife, completely ignoring the frantic nurses and doctor and simply said 'save them both, how can you expect a father to choose between his two children? Please save them' and in response to his pleas two babies were born, a very healthy baby boy and a slightly injured baby girl. At that moment it was clear to them which child would have died and the two parents' hearts broke at the thought of losing their daughter. Later they were informed that Layla could no longer have any more children due to the damage taken to her uterus which they still have yet to be informed on how it exactly happened but what hurt more was learning that their daughter was not like everyone else.

Since Lucy had been born prematurely with her twin, already had some problems such as a weak immune system but due to the damage done on her mother's uterus the young Dreyar had developed some unknown problems that were found later after being taken home to greet her brother. Lucy, in the duration of her year long life, had two seizures that had given all three of the Dreyar's heart attacks, the doctors were unaware if the young blonde's seizures were caused by her birth circumstances or because of something else but Layla and Wesslogia were relieved when informed that Lucy shouldn't have many more of her episodes and if she had many more than that was when they were to be worried.

Laxus, although indifferent, had been worried about his little sisters well-being and had kept a close eye on her ever since and yet still kept his distance from the two babies and so there he sat watching his younger siblings as his three cousin's played with them. "Laxus?" said blonde sighed and creased the page he was reading before closing his comic and looking at his mother, Layla smiled, "Your aunt and I are going outside in the backyard, can you watch the twins with your cousin's?"

"But mom," he whined, "They're doing a good job watching them, why can't I just go upstairs?" Earning a glare from his mother immediately muted his complaints as she smiled at his siblings and walked outside with her sister-in-law. The young blonde stared at the place his mother had walked out before sighing and running a hand down his face, ignoring the small touches on his arm. He knew his mother was trying to get him to be more eager to play with his younger brother and sister but the fact was that he didn't even want to breathe the same air as them; even he knew he sounded harsh but it was the truth, he didn't want to be near them. Laxus just wanted to be alone with his mom and dad. "Lucy..."

He growled at the relentless tapping on his cheeks coming from his little sister who was standing beside him on the floor with a large smile plastered on her face. He would never understand what ran through his sisters head, sometimes she would just smile when she fell or cry when someone laughed, it was like her emotions were mixed and yet sometimes they would be normal. He watched as she padded away from him and picked up a doll before stumbling back to him and raising it in front of his face.

"Mmm!" she giggled and squealed as she waved the doll around in front of him. Laxus raised a brow and looked at his little sister before looking back at the doll in his face, he grabbed it and watched as she smiled brightly and giggled, the elder blonde wasn't sure how he was supposed to handle his little sister and glanced curiously at one of his cousins for a little support but was annoyed when he saw they were busy with Sting. He glanced at his sister and looked into her brown eyes that resembled his mothers before sighing and tossing the doll across the room, "Fetch!" he stared at his sister as she tilted her head curiously, "Go get it Lucy!" she stared at him for a moment longer before padding off toward the doll.

"Laxus," he peaked an eye open that he had unconsciously closed and stared at his cousin questioningly, "Lucy's not a dog, she's your baby sister and you should play with her. That's why she was holding the doll," he shrugged and rolled off the couch,

"Jellal, I don't care." He told the younger boy bluntly, "I don't like babies," all three boys turned to him at his remark and it had ultimately creped Laxus out. His three younger cousins, Mystogan, Siegrain and the previously mentioned Jellal Fernandez were triplets. Mystogan was the silent one of the three and although Jellal wasn't known for his words his brother had the upper hand with that, Mystogan was always holed up in his room playing silently by himself or looking at picture books while Siegrain was over confident and smug much like himself. Jellal, in Laxus' opinion, was the most normal of them all, calm and level headed but that wasn't what had irked the blonde, it was the fact that since they were identical, their glares were three times as powerful when they did it together. "What?"

Mystogan answered, "How can you say you don't like babies?' his whispered question hung in the air as he stared at his cousin, "Laxus have you ever even played with a baby?" The question took the blonde by surprise, had he played with a baby? He couldn't recall a time where he had actually touched-let alone played with one; Laxus found himself shaking his head in response to his cousins question, "The how can you say you don't like babies. You can't not like them, you have a baby brother and sister," his blue eyes travelled to meet that of his brothers, if it weren't for the age difference then some may have mistook them for twins if they didn't know them well enough. He snorted and looked away from the curious baby,

"Does it matter?" his irritation had risen dramatically since his mother left the room, all he wanted to do was read in piece and get away from all the baby lovers. What was even exciting about a baby? All babies do is sleep, eat poop and fart, he should know, he has two living in the house with him. So what was it that everyone found so extremely interesting or cute about the small beings? "I don't even have to talk to them unless Mom asks me to watch the twerps," he informed, "so what's the point of trying?"

"Because they're your brother and sister," came the immediate reply of Siegrain, he crossed his arms across his chest before continuing, " I had to get along with these two knuckle heads," he smirked down at his brothers as they glared at him.

"Sieg, unlike you we're smart." Jellal pointed out before continuing; "Besides you're only older than me by a minute." Mystogan silently walked over to Lucy and picked her up gently before walking over to her older brother and kneeling in front of him as he held her out to him.

"Take her..." Laxus glanced down at the smaller blonde in his cousins hand and grimaced, what exactly was Mystogan trying to get him to do. The eldest blonde stayed in a state of paralysis as he observed his baby sister, her golden locks curled slightly on her head as they reached past her chin, her big and innocent chocolate brown eyes and large smile all reminded him of his mother and without comprehending what he was doing he reached for the girl in Mystogan's arms. Immediately he groaned at the pressure,

"Lucy," he whined, "You're heavy," the doe-eyed girl giggled in response to his complaints and kicked her legs as he held her from under her armpits, obviously not knowing how to hold a baby the proper way he decided to just let her hang like that until he felt comfortable. Laxus couldn't even begin to describe what it felt like to hold Lucy, the sensation of holding his baby sister was so different than he thought holding a baby would be like, though heavy, she was a thin baby with soft, pale skin and delicate, one word that the boy thought of as he slowly sat her on his lap, afraid that if he held her any tighter she might break.

How could something so delicate be so energetic? Laxus stared at his sister as she stared back at him curiously from her place in his lap, her eyes seemed to shine brighter the moment she made contact with her older brother for the first time and her smile had brightened, and her giggles sounded melodic. The six year old found himself smiling slightly at the sight of his little sister in his lap and although he didn't know why, he could feel warmth pooling in his stomach at the thought of holding his little sister like that more often, but why? Didn't he hate babies? So if he did than why was he wanting to hold Lucy more?

"L-Lazus," all four males above the age of one turned their heads toward the small blonde being held by Laxus with their eyebrows raised as far as they could possibly be, they couldn't believe what the small child had attempted to say which they guessed to be the six year old blondes name; who was definitely surprised at his younger sisters attempt at saying his name especially because she had never uttered a word before then. "Laxus!" Her first word was his name, he grinned and ruffled her golden locks.

"That's my baby sister!" She giggled and grabbed at his fingers as they all turned toward Sting expectantly, maybe if Lucy said her first word than he would too? The previously mentioned boy looked up, obviously noticing the stares of his siblings and cousins and tilted his head to the side in curiosity at their gazes as they rolled their eyes and sighed, "Maybe it's too early for him?" Sting watched as the three bluenette's nodded in agreement at the words his brother had spoken.

"Lucy could just be the smarter of the two, even if she is the youngest-" Mystogan inquired, "-like with Jellal and I, we're smarter than Sieg even if he's older." Ignoring the protest from the eldest triplets Laxus nodded and shrugged before laying back down on the couch with his little sister following and laying on his chest. Mystogan smirked uncharacteristically, "So I thought you didn't like babies Laxus?" in response he received an eye roll from his cousin as he stared at the drowsy girl on his chest.

"Sleep finally catching up to her?" Jellal smiled softly at the sight of the two blondes until the serene moment was rudely interrupted by a wail coming from the youngest blonde boy as he waddled up to his two siblings, small tears streaming down his face as he held up his arms toward his brother. Cautiously, Laxus eyed his brother before reaching down and grabbing his brother by the back of his shorts and pulling him up onto his chest beside Lucy. Laxus stared at his siblings, just like Lucy, he found sting to be very soft and delicate although less so than his sister but he still couldn't figure out how Sting was lighter than her when he looked bigger, it was confusing and yet fascinating to the blonde at the same time.

"Poop!" The loud cry took them all by surprise as they turned the direction of their gazes to Sting, it seemed that he had said his first word on the same day as Lucy had but this time the word was highly amusing to the young boys as they began to laugh. "Wait guys." Laxus called out to his cousins with a grimace on his face, "I think he meant what he said," the triplets looked at him with curiosity before recognition crossed over their features as the proof of the young boys announcement wafted over toward them.

"Ewe gross Sting!" The boys shouted as they crawled away from the three and watched Laxus hastily put the baby and his soiled diaper on the floor and pressed Lucy against his chest as he sat up. Siegrain eyed the small, giggling boy warily as eh pinched his nose so as not to get another whiff of the horrid stench the baby was producing at that moment and turned to Laxus, "I ain't cleaning that up."

"Ditto!"

"Neither."

Laxus gaped at his cousins, he hadn't even held the twins until today and they expect him to clean up his brothers sloppy mess that was sure to be found in his diaper? He laughed bitterly to himself, that was not going to happen, "I'm not cleaning that up," he told them and picked the soiled Sting up by the back of his pants and dangled him in the air above the triplets, "I haven't even held one until today so you can clean him," he handed the eldest twin to the complaining boys and sat down on the carpeted floor as he cradled the now sleeping Lucy in his arms.

The three boys looked at each other as they passed the giggling boy to one another, all three of them had no idea as to how to change a baby nor did they have any intentions of getting so close to the toxic that came out of the baby's rear end, "How are we supposed to change him-?" Jellal questioned, glaring at the source of the stench as he passed the boy onto a silent Mystogan as he did the same passing Sting on to Siegrain, "-He's not even our brother," He pointed out to his brothers as they finally plopped him on the ground. "...Well someone has to change him," came the intelligent statement made by Mystogan causing all four boys to look at each other before directing their attention on the door,

 _"Mom!"_

 _"Aunt Layla!"_

"Poop!"

Maybe having siblings wasn't all that bad.

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'-I was an Angel'_**

 ** _First Breath_**

* * *

 **Shattered-Nightmares712: So guys, what did you think? I think I did considerably well with this, I was actually pretty insecure about this prologue at first and almost deleted it, thinking that chapter 1 would be better than staring off with a prologue but I decided to keep it. Also the first official chapter will be coming soon, that is when everything will begin and some things will be explained. I don't think there is too much to be confused about in this but feel free to ask anything no matter how random it is, I won't judge. Also the quotes at the top and bottom of the page I got form a song called 'Human' by Manfest, not a bad song so check it out if you want. Big thanks to my best friend Stroke-of-Midnight87727 for beta reading! Again this is a NaLu, slow development but it is,** **he also won't be introduced until further in the story, but not too long,** **  
** **so thank you for reading!** **  
** **Love you guys** **  
** **Bye!**


	2. First Breath: Friends

**Here is chapter one guys!**

 **So Natsu won't show up for about**

 **Another few chapters**

 **I think because I've got to**

 **Get everything I want covered before**

 **We move onto Lucy and Natsu's meeting.**

 **Hopefully you guys are enjoying**

 **It despite that fact.**

 **Thanks to my best friend Stroke-of-Midnight87727 for beta reading for me!**

 **So right now we're showing Lucy in**

 **Her last year of high school.**

 **Thanks for reading and review!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'No, I never said-'_**

 **First Breath: Friends**

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

 _" **L** ucy! Get your big ass down here-we're gonna be late_!" the blonde sighed as she heard her brothers voice calling up to her from the bottom of the stairs, of course _today_ her hair decided to be stubborn and fight against the light strokes of her brush. She huffed and grabbed her hair elastic before racing down the steps with her school bag pulled over her shoulder. Her brother raised a brow at her hair and folded his arms over his chest, "What? Did Lector decide your hair was a comfy bed?"

"Shut up." He laughed as she punched his arm and slipped her black converse on before pulling all of her disheveled hair into a ponytail on the side of her head, pinning back her bangs with a bobby pin. Opening the door to their house the two blondes left and began their walk toward their bus stop. She sighed silently, they were already well in their first month of school and already there was so much work for them to do, although she couldn't complain, it was her last year of high school.

She had to admit, she was going to miss going to school-no matter how much she complained about it she still loved to go there and thinking of leaving it all behind somehow saddened her, she supposed it was normal, she has spent the last three-almost four years at that school so she figured it was normal to get attached. Although her brother on the other hand... he was thanking the heavens that he was no longer going to Magnolia High-and she didn't doubt her brother not having the slightest bit of remorse for thinking it.

The last four years for Lucy were wonderful-sort of. She had plenty of friends, a couple being her childhood friends which she loved dearly and never allowed themselves to be distanced from her as they got older. Ever since the first day of Grade one they had been friends and she'd be damned if she let all that go because of high school.

They helped her through everything just as she had to them, they were irreplaceable in her honest opinion and she wouldn't have it any other way. She remembered how shy she had been when they were that young-yes most children were most likely intimidated their first day of school, but she wouldn't even talk to anyone-much less participate in the welcoming games they had set up for them. It wasn't until her best guy friend-Gray Fullbuster- had approached her with a stern face that she had spoken.

 _She watched the small boy approach her as she tugged her knees closer to her chest in a vain attempt to make herself smaller and invisible. She wasn't quite ready to speak with anyone; what if they didn't like her or thought she was strange? She glanced over at her twin as his obnoxious laughter filled the room; he seemed to fit in perfectly with the small, rambunctious preschoolers whereas she was the opposite of that._

 _She was quiet, shy and loved to read (or be read to)-Sting, he loved sports, was loud and hated the quiet. She was nothing like her brother and although she was fine with it she wished she could be as friendly and easy-going as he was. She envied that ability. Although as the boy, who somehow lost his shirt in the middle of his short walk, stepped in front of her she felt her heart speed up in excitement._

 _His short, unruly, raven color locks were pointed in every way Lucy could think and his ocean blue eyes held something behind them that intrigued her as they stared straight at her. The boy's arms were crossed over his bare chest with his brows creased in question, "Oi! What're 'ya doin' alone all the way over here?" His voice anything but unpleasant and somehow she greatly enjoyed the comfort of his voice._

 _"…" she remained silent, not trusting her own voice to speak for her, a beat of silence passed over them before the boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, she guessed he was giving up and that was fine by her. To Lucy's surprise, he sat down beside her-joining her in her silent gazing; she couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason why the boy would even consider talking to her._

 _"My name's Gray Fullbuster," he suddenly introduced after a few minutes of awkward silence, "What's yours?" She glanced at him briefly, why was he talking to her? All the other kids were ignoring her for her brother so what made Gray any different?_

 _"Lucy Dreyar…" she mumbled quietly, it felt odd interacting with someone she didn't know-it had always only been her parents, her brothers and herself, nobody else. He smiled slightly when she introduced herself before his eyes maneuvered toward her twin,_

 _"So you're that guy's sister?" he jerked his thumb toward the laughing blonde across from them, his familiar scar above his eye immediately becoming apparent to her quickly, she nodded mutely as he gave a soft chuckle. "He's a little… hyper isn't he?" she giggled and nodded her head, a small smile gracing her lips._

 _"He's always been like that."_

 _"Really!? How can you deal with him?" Gray gawked at her which in returned earned him a light feathery giggle,_

 _"Well he is my twin so I kind of have to…" Again the raven haired boy's eyes bugged out of his head as he stared at her, at first he seemed to be a little stoic to Lucy but now she knew that he was much like her, quiet and reserved yet warm and kind when comfortable with the other._

 _The time seemed to go by in a blur for the two as they animatedly continued to converse with one another until it was finally time for them to depart. He smiled, holding the hand of both his parents as she did the same, both having bright eyes and wide smiles._

 _"It was nice to meet 'ya Lucy! See you tomorrow!" She grinned and released her mother's hand and waved at him,_

 _"It was nice to meet you too Gray!"_

Gray, admittedly, had been her very first crush as they grew older and into the sixth grade and she had been so embarrassed by the change in her feelings towards the male that she had buried her nose in a book for weeks, never ignoring him completely but not fully acknowledging him either. Although the raven haired boy had always been a little dense when it came to things such as love and soon her feelings had passed and Gray had returned to being her big brother like usual.

Lucy huffed a sigh as she noticed the bus had yet to arrive but her face soon brightened when she saw the man her thoughts had travelled to, "Gray!" she waved at him, a joyful smile on her lips as he chuckled at her light-hearted behavior. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Gray pulled her close and grinned down at her,

"Miss me that much Lucy?" she smacked his chest playfully with a small pout on her pink-glossed lips, "It's only been two days. Can you not bear to be apart from with me even for a weekend?" Ignoring Sting's glare from behind the blonde girl under his arm, he poked her pouted lips with a teasing grin. She rolled her eyes sardonically and retorted,

"You sound like that damn player at school," Lucy snorted and evaded his second attempt at poking her, as she sidestepped into her twin's chest-who at the moment, was glaring at Gray fervidly as he pulled his sister closer by her midriff. He snarled,

"Touch my sister again with your perverted thinking and I will punch 'ya all the way to Crocus!" He rolled his eyes and avoided his penetrating gaze, surely the male was too stupid to do something to his own sisters best friend. Although the elder twin was not as sharp as his sister, he knew how to pack a punch-something Gray had learned from experience.

"Sting~!" The sudden interrupting of the youngest blondes voice made them glance down at her-their height always having been overbearing for her when in their presences, "I can protect myself! Much less from my own friend!"

"Fuck no you can't!"

"And just _what_ do you mean by _that_!?"

"You ain't got any strength in 'ya!

"…Jackass."

"Blonde bimbo…"

Lucy glared at her older twin, sometimes he really was a major jackass to her and even though he was annoying and rude, the younger blonde still loved him more than anything- a fact that irritated her to no end but she knew it was just harmless arguing between two siblings. She huffed and turned toward her best friend, rolling her eyes slightly as he smirked at the two of them, he knew their 'arguments' weren't really anything serious-considering that was all they did year round. The small group of three soon descended into silence as they waited for their bus to arrive.

Lucy glanced at her brother; it was no secret that her brother was over protective-something she had found out when she was younger after a boy at their old elementary school pulled her hair and stuck gum in it. She still hadn't forgiven the boy for sticking gum in her hair-which she later had to cut short because it was so knotted into her hair- the boy's name was Leo Celeste or Loke as he preferred to be called.

The male had changed a lot since elementary school; he was now the resident flirt of Magnolia, never able to truly settle on one girl, he even tries to get Lucy herself to go on a date with him which of course the blonde would refuse each time she was asked. On one occasion he had received a black eye from her twin for some stunt he pulled as he tried to ask her out.

 _"Lucy my love!" A voice shouted from outside the house, "L-U-C-Y~!" The ginger haired fourteen year old continued to sing out the name of the girl he was interested as loud footsteps could be heard coming from within the house as he continued his proclaimed 'love' for the girl. A minute later the door flew open to reveal a blonde girl in a pair of yoga pants and a baggy T-shirt with her hair pulled up into a bun and flip-flops on her feet. He smiled at her, "So you chose to open the door to love for us Lucy!?"_

 _The blonde raised a brow at him, sighed and shifted her weight onto one foot before placing her hands on her hips, "Leo," she hissed in annoyance, "what are you doing here!?" He smirked and pushed his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose,_

 _"People call me Loke sweetheart, but you can call me tonight~!" She rolled her eyes at his lame pick-up line, really he had been at this all year and even then he would flirt with other girls while she was in the exact room he was flirting in._

 _"Loke, I told you already I'm not going to date you!" She cried out in exasperation, the boy just did not know when to give up at now was one of the times, "just go home already it's ten in the morning and I was planning on sleeping in! Go pick some other girl to flirt with!"_

 _"If you were a booger I'd pick you first~!"_

 _"…That's disgusting!" she screeched, "what are you!? Three!?"_

 _"Our child will be three in a few years from now if he is conceived at this moment…"_

 _"Please-" she begged him whole-heartedly, "Please go away Loke!" He pouted at her and furrowed his brows together as he stared at her questioningly,_

 _"But princess I have yet to give you your gift!" She cocked and eyebrow at him and tapped her foot impatiently as he stepped aside to reveal the car her brother was going to inherit when he was able to drive-but now, it was a light shade of pink with her name printed on the side door in black. "Your ride mademoiselle~!" Laughter bubbled out of her throat as she stared at her brothers soon to be car, he was definitely not going to be pleased with the new look his car had received._

 _"Lucy what the hell is going on down there!?" Her laughs turned hysterical as her twin stomped down the stairs to see Loke standing by the car he was supposed to own when he was old enough- a grin plastered on his face as he watched Lucy but Sting was not focused on the latter-but on the male standing beside his now pink car._

"Loke!"

 _"You're dead Leo, run!"_

Quietly giggling to herself, Lucy climbed onto the bus with Sting and Gray-briefly saying hello to the bus driver as she did before they all sat in their assigned seat to which Lucy had the pleasure of sitting beside Gray's personal stalker; Juvia Lockser. What made her seating even better was that because she had the aisle seat, she was closest to Loke who sat in the seat right beside theirs. She groaned in annoyance when the ginger turned to her with a grin on his lips,

"Why hello Beautiful~" Promptly ignoring the flirt, Lucy looked the opposite way to avoid his lecherous eyes that seemed to roam her curvaceous body every time she was within his sights. It wasn't as if the blonde was oblivious to the perverted stares she received at school-but that was the most attention she really got at school, for her looks and brains but never actually for _her._ That was something she wasn't too upset about, as long as her friends were by her side she had no reason to be upset with others.

"Loke wha-"

"Shush," she glared at him as he held her hand tightly in his, the slightly hardened hands keep her soft ones from escaping, staring into her eyes momentarily, he smiled, "I want to tell you're your fortune…" She watched as he swiftly pulled out a pen and wrote something on the back of her hand before fixing his glasses and letting a confident smirk fall on his lips as she glanced at the blue ink on her hand-immediately recognizing the messy writing as a series of numbers.

His phone number to be exact.

"Your future is clear~" Rolling her eyes, Lucy promptly ignored the flirt and turned to her friends stalker with a wry smile; Juvia was a pleasant girl to be around but when someone was on her 'love-rival' list, the most sensible thing to do was run-but the blonde and the bluenette had been friends prior to Gray's and Juvia's meeting and so despite the constant questioning of her and her best friends relationship-Lucy stuck with her. Glancing at her seat-mate, she noticed a prominent scowl on the young girls face-seemingly in thought and decided it was best not to disturbed her, instead she settled on silently observing her friend.

Juvia-despite having a choice to flaunt her curvaceous figure, decided to hide behind large sizes in their uniforms, instead of wearing a form-fitting top, the bluenette would cover her generous chest with a large sweater included in the uniform which was Lucy's favorite color-midnight blue- instead of the usual short skirt that reached their mid-thy, Juvia requested she wear a knee-length black skirt with leggings underneath-efficiently covering everything appealing to the male eye (not including her face) out of sight. Juvia always kept her blue hair-Lucy doubted that it was somehow natural- in long waves with light make-up, she was much like herself in that way, neither liked too much make up on.

The blonde glanced at herself, in contrast to her friend's modest uniform choice, she wore the usual black thy-length skirt and white button-down shirt with the blue, black and gold stripped tie, and black knee high stockings. The men's uniform was similar to say the least; the pants were black, a white button down shirt and the same colored tie which matched the girls. Lucy sighed, she loved frilly clothes that were short and pretty-clothes were one of her weaknesses and it was something her brother knew well seeing as he had first had experience in 'shopping' with her. The uniform was no exception to her passion.

She admired Juvia for her modesty, being able to keep her curves from view instead of gaining attention from most of the male population like most-not that she was one to like perverted eyes staring at her. "Hey, Juvia?" She called questioningly, "did you get yesterday's English notes down?" The bluenette nodded.

"Yes Juvia has copied them, how is Lucy's cold?" Her blue eyes blinked curiously at her.

Lucy smiled, "I'm feeling a lot better." The day prior to this the blonde had caught a cold and a slight fever resulting in her absence, "do you mind if I copy your notes?" Juvia smiled and dug in her bag for the small notebook she keeps before handing them over to the blonde with her promising to give them back before lunch.

The bus ride to school had been anything but quiet, the usual rowdiness caused by her friends was something she had missed even if only for a day- not having the cheerful atmosphere around her made her feel lonely. She smiled, turning her attention toward the paper outstretched to her. "Thanks!"

* * *

 **.**

 **Still Breathing**

 **.**

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

 _" **I'** m telling you guys I don't need a boyfriend!"_ the blonde giggled as she watched her best friend protest against their friends, the bluenette turned a sharp glared on her. "I'm glad you find this funny Lu-Chan…" Lucy grinned back cheekily as the other pouted,

"You know I do Levy-Chan~!" It was lunch break and the blonde was eating wither the majority of her friends and her brother were having a relaxed conversation as they sat in their usual spot at the cafeteria. A small smirk appeared on the blondes face, "Although you do need a boyfriend Levy-Chan. He will loosen you up more~" Her friend huffed and took an irritated bite of her salad.

"I am fine the way I am!" The bluenette argued defensively, "just because I won't go out late with you guys on a _school night_ does not mean I can't have fun…" Lucy doubted it, other than studying and reading her friend never did much else and although she, herself found reading entertaining she found other things to do; like socialize with people. The blonde glanced at their other friends and rolled her eyes.

Originally Lucy and Levy had never spoken, even after three years of being in the same class they had never given each other a second though. It wasn't until Levy had caught her reading a book that they both coincidentally adored, from then on the two were stuck together like glue.

 _The blonde sat silently on the floor, her legs pressed snugly to her chest as her chin rested on her knees, her eyes heatedly_ _taking in each word from the book she was reading. Lucy could not think of another book she loved more than the one she was holding in her hands; Iris Johansson_ 'The ugly Duckling', _the young blonde could not remember how many times she had read the novel but she thoroughly enjoyed it each time._

 _Oblivious to the soft footsteps approaching the aisle she was in, Lucy flipped the page to her book and continued to read the gruesome life that_ Nell Cadler _had stepped into._

"Oh Yeah, Sting." She looked at her brother as he shoved a large fork full of food into his mouth, "Levy-Chan and I have writing club tonight so I will be back later than usual." He nodded and burped loudly-a few students turning back to glare at him in disgust before he spoke.

"I've got Boxing tonight anyway-Rogue and the guys are going to practice with me in the gym so just come down when you and Levy are done," He paused before glancing at her. "How is that going by the way? Get any new members?" The two girls looked at each other before sighing sadly and shaking their heads.

"Nope, it's just Lu-Chan and I and that creepy guy in his third year. Orga-I think his name was, keeps eyeing us up like meat." Levy spat in disgust before finishing her lunch, the blonde male had already ruined her appetite but despite the obvious dislike they held for him Lucy and Levy had no right to refuse him membership in their club just for that reason.

"Orga isn't…. That bad," Rogue mumbled quietly. "He's just kind of, odd."

"Well come on guys, you have got to admit Orga is sexy for a small guy…" Cana commented smugly, "I wouldn't mind taking a piece of that." Lucy made a face before shaking her head in denial.

"No thank you, Cana you can have him." She told the brunette before standing up and grabbing he bag, "I'm going to head to class early." She nodded to them before making her way to her next class where Lissanna and Yukino also were in. Walking in the class she smiled at her friends, "Hey guys! How have classes been?"

Lissanna rolled her eyes at Lucy's question-clearly her classes were not going as well as she had hoped, "boring as usual although we now have a project in science. Yay me~" Yukino looked over at her with a raised brow.

"You shouldn't complain, this is our last year of school so its expected the classes are boring and we get lots of work." Lucy nodded,

"Yuki's right, Lis. " The blonde looked over at her friend, "it's just the beginning too so you better suck it up or you won't make it for Graduation." Lissanna groaned and hit her head against her desk.

"Did you guys have to remind me! Why can't you both be sympathetic and encourage me like friends should!?" Yukino giggled,

"Because you know we're only trying to help you~!"

"Yeah, Yeah." Lucy smiled, she had known the girls for awhile-about around the time she met Gray she had met Lissanna and Yukino while making her first appearance at a new dance studio where she became friends with the two girls.

 _Lucy panted as she followed the teachers movements, they had been practicing for two hours and only gotten two breaks that lasted five minutes each-in short, she was exhausted. Finally they had gotten one last break before they wrapped up, their teacher was intense but considering how young they were she couldn't overdo it too much. "Here…" Lucy glanced to the side as she stood hunched over her knees, to see a pretty white haired girl with blue eyes and a silver haired girl with brown eyes, each handing her a water bottle._

 _She nodded at them and accepted the water, "Thank you…" Like her, both girls were sweating but they hadn't seemed as worn out as she was, she thought maybe they had been here longer than she was-or were used to their instructors intensive training._

 _"Are you new to this studio?" She nodded in confirmation and gulped down half of the water she received. The blue eyed one nodded, her hands on her hips, "Yeah, then that's probably why your are like this. Ms. Porlyusica can be hard to follow if you are not used to her!" Her eyes winded, "Oh sorry! My name's Lissanna and my friend here is Yukino! It's nice to meet you!"_

 _Lucy smiled, "Nice to meet you too! My name's Lucy." The brown eyed girl-Yukino- took a cautious step forward and fiddled with her tutu._

 _"Um, would you like to sit with us for cool down?" Her hesitance had the blonde giggling softly, Yukino blushed. "U-Um! You don't have too!"_

 _"I'd love too!" She smiled and nodded at Lissanna, "just give me a minute and I'll be right over!" Yukino smiled slightly before taking the white haired girls hand and dragging her off._

 _"Just don't take too long or Ms. Porlyusica will be mad!"_

 _"I won't!"_

It was after that day that Lucy found out Lissanna was in fact Mirajane Strauss's little sister. Yukino was still shy as ever despite her natural beauty that everyone could see but the blonde knew it was just the way she was but either way she didn't mind.

"So Lis? How are you and your boyfriend doing?" She asked the youngest Strauss, she hadn't spoken about her relationship in a long time and still refused to speak his name in front of him-apparently from embarrassment.

She shrugged, "I broke it off awhile ago but I'm fine so don't worry!" Lucy and Yukino eyed her for a moment before nodding and seating themselves in their desks to listen to their teacher's lesson. Although after being in the class for fifteen minutes Lucy had no intention on continuing keeping her attention on the lesson and doodled in her notebook until the end of the day.

* * *

 **.**

 **Still Breathing**

 **.**

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

" ** _H_** onestly, I don't understand why you even continue to do boxing if you complain about it so much," Lucy rolled her eyes as she and Sting continued to walk home from school. She shrugged, "if you dislike doing it so much why don't you just quit? They can find another person to take your place, Rouge would be good for that position."

Sting shook his head, "don't get me wrong-I love boxing but we need a stronger trainer." He explained grumpily, arms crossed over his chest as he looked at her. "Rogue and a couple of other guys are alright but the rest need to step up their game. Its killing us when were out in the ring-when were tallying team points at least- but worst of all we may not even make it to finals this year!" A sigh of frustration left the blonde males lips as he explained.

Lucy glanced at him, readjusting her grip on the books in her arms, "Why not coach them then?" She suggested flatly, "that way you can be sure they are taught well and develop the proper tactics and skills to help your team win more points-but really you should focus on your own training instead of the rest." It seemed like an obvious solution to the brown eyed student but she knew her brother had the tendency to not think things through when frustrated.

Just as he was now.

Sting unlocked the front door to their house, "Are you kidding? I can't coach someone, I make them practice with Rouge and I-that should be enough," he concluded, dropping his bag on the table next to the door. "Besides, they should be using their own time to get practice in-I shouldn't have to teach them anything- they should know what to do by my explanation of positioning-I mean they _do_ watch me fight." He trotted up the stairs tiredly, most likely due to the practice he had just finished. "When's Dad coming back?" Stings voice called down the stairs as Lucy walked into the kitchen to get started on their dinner for the night.

"He said he was working late tonight," she said, dropping some noodles in the boiling pot. "He probably won't be back until around midnight or so, the house will be yours for about two hours- I have practice again." She opened the fridge to grab their drinks before pouring them into two glasses and string the noodles on the stove.

"Again?" Lucy heard him say from behind her. She turned to him as he leaned against the doorframe connecting the dining room and the kitchen as he shrugged a clean shirt over his torso. "You've been going there every night lately, not to mention you come back after its dark out." He stared pointedly at her, "You should take a break every once in awhile or you will tire yourself out..." She huffed, chopping up a few vegetables.

"Says the idiot that has been pushing himself to the point where he passes out wherever he's sitting," Lucy pointed out. "I'm fine Sting, it's not unusual for me to stay late, I always have, just not every night..."

"How do you even have time for homework?" Sting questioned, walking in far enough to sit on the counter beside the stove, "seriously-I pass out as soon as I get done with practice." She giggled and shook her head, her twin was really something-determined and focused when it came to boxing but put a textbook in front to of him and his brain pulls a flat line.

"Unlike you I spend my time wisely," she accused, draining the noodles in the sink. Her brother was anything but productive when it came to school and the results were bluntly shown in his report card but he would always insist that his education came second to boxing. Although Lucy couldn't say much considering he took Boxing just as seriously as she took dance. "Besides I actually _like_ to learn."

"Oi! I would like to learn too if the lessons weren't so boring," he defended lamely. "Anyway half of my teachers are totally unreasonable- did you see that last project I handed in for Science? It should have scored me _at least_ a B!" He eyed Lucy as she picked up a limp noodle on her index finger before turning to him with a smirk, her intent shinning clearly in her chocolate brown eyes much like her mothers.

"Liar," she flicked the cooked noodle at him, his blue eyes widening shock. "There was barely any information concerning your research of the chemicals within your substance and your _'artwork'_ looked like someone smeared paint on paper that a small child had done and told their parents he made _'art_ '." She grabbed their food and brought it into the dining room, Sting trailing behind her as he grumbled, the noodle long forgotten after hearing her insult on his project. Obviously he had different thoughts contrary to hers, but really Sting's project was set for anything but success.

"It was art." He insisted, seating himself at the table and digging into the food Lucy cooked for the both of them, Pasta was one of his favorites and he wasn't going to waste anytime when he could be eating the delicious meal-not that he would tell her it was. "Rouge even said it was better than usual..."

"Yes, but Rogue is also your best friend-though I don't see why." She sipped at her drink before glaring at her twin, watching as he bashfully consumed half of the food she had set out for them. "Hey! Make sure you save some food for Papa, he'll be hungry when he gets back."

"Why is he staying late again by the way?" He questioned, evading her concern as he gulped down the mouthful of food he chewed. "Did he get a new case to solve again? At least that was why he never came home last time." She shrugged, she hadn't a clue as to why her father was staying out late again-she knew he was working hard for them, to keep them in the same house they grew up in, to help feed them, cloth them and keep them safe but all Lucy wanted was to spend time as a family, even just eating dinner together would make her happy.

She wasn't ungrateful for her father's hard work and restless night shifts he took, if anything she wished he would take some time off for himself, and she felt selfish for wanting more time with her father when he was so tired all the time but it was natural for children to want attention from their parents, no matter the age. Sting, although he never showed it, missed having their Father around too but he never complained just simply asked if he was alright when he came home or when he would be back.

Lucy's hands moved without hesitation in the soap water as she continued to think about her Father, the noise of Sting in the shower barely heard in the background. Her eyes travelled to the clock above the sink, she sighed, it was already past six and she still needed to grab her bag and leave-maybe when she was able to drive alone she would borrow her brothers car instead of having to walk. She didn't want to keep bothering Gray for a ride, she was ready to get her full license and so was Sting but neither had the money to pay for the test nor did they wish to bother their dad for something like that.

The blonde dried her hands off quickly on a hand towel beside her and stopped by her room to grab her bag before she started to pull on her shoes, " _Sting! I'm leaving now_!" She called up to him, pausing briefly in her actions to add, " _And do your homework for once so you don't fail_!" She hauled her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her keys before walking out the door and locking it behind her and continued her way to the studio.

At the studio she would be able to forget, she would be able to express herself freely without anyone questioning her as to why she was acting the way she was. At the studio she could just let everything tumble out and get her relief and when she finally arrived, she could finally let her mask fall.

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'-I wouldn't break down, Yeah'_**

 **Second Breath**

* * *

 **Shattered-Nightmares712: Finished the first chapter finally! This took awhile for me to make but it was fun to do! So what did you guys think? Again I know Natsu still isn't in the story yet but he will be soon enough, hopefully you guys don't mind waiting for him to come in. School will be starting for me in a few days so updates on all my stories will be slower considering I will be going into my second year of high school! If there is anything you guys are confused about feel free to PM me or write the question in a review and I will answer to the best of my abilities! Thanks for reading and giving me your support!** **  
 **Until next time!****

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	3. Second Breath: Goodbye

**Here is the continuation of the first chapter!**

 **Now Lucy's home/ Family life will be explained,**

 **I know a couple of you were wondering about what happened with Laxus considering**

 **he is Sting and Lucy's older brother.**

 **Hopefully this will be a good explanation for everyone.**

 **Thanks for the reviews and support!**

 **I know this story is taking awhile to be updated**

 **but the chapters are long and I have other stories that need updates so**

 **Thank you for understanding!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Still Breathing**_

 _ **'Beside myself, living in a cold cell-'**_

 _ **Second Breath: Goodbye**_

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

 _"Lucy! Make sure you're out before my next class!"_ The blonde smiled and nodded at her teacher. The elder woman had been generous enough to let her practice when the schedule was so tight so she made sure not to step on the woman's toes. "Also guest will be coming for a visit, something about finding a dancer-I don't know. I hate people." This surprised Lucy, their studio wasn't the most popular dance studio out there but it was decent enough to have quite a few students, but visitors coming to find a dancer?

It was unheard of.

She didn't question it. "Alright, I'll be out of your hair soon Miss. Porlyusica. I just wanted to get some practice in." The pink haired woman nodded firmly before closing the door behind her, allowing Lucy to start he practice. The young dancer sighed before seating herself on the floor and beginning her stretches. Lucy's mind filled with thoughts of her twin. His worry was more evident this time than any other time she stayed out late at the studio. She reached toward her feet. Perhaps he thought she was pushing herself, maybe she was but Sting knew she danced for more than one reason.

It was similar to the way Sting was with his boxing matches, eh loved to fight but he also did it as a way to vent without verbally expressing himself. Often she had heard her brother leaving late in the night or early in the morning only later to find out that he went for another round of practice using the same excuse that he needed to get stronger. In truth he didn't. Sting was one of the best fighters in his group _Sabertooth_ , Lucy was happy he had something to occupy him from his unwanted thoughts.

Lucy arched her back. Despite knowing he was worried over her and should probably take a break to ease his mind, she couldn't. She could still remember when they were in their last few weeks of their Junior year of High School he had gone on a rampage after she fainted from lack of sleep and stress. truthfully, she hadn't been eating right for a few days, exams for school and dance had taken priority over her eating healthy. Mavis how much trouble had she gotten in?

 _Brown eyes fluttered open, the sound of beeping catching her attention. Where was she? She felt faint and he mind was heavy. What had happened? Her head turned to the side at the sound of some shuffling and soft breaths. Sting? Her brother lay half on her bed with his bottom half seated on a chair. Lucy's eyes travelled to the blankets covering her sore body. These were not her blankets, hers were a pretty pink color-these were a plain white. Her arm caught her eye. Tubes connected to a vein barely visible in her arm. Was she in a hospital? Her arm felt cold but she refused to pull it under the warmth of her hospital blanket for fear of making the pain worse._

 _"Sting?" Mavis her voice sounded like shit. It hurt for her to swallow and her mouth felt dry. How long had she been out? Lucy watched as her brother stirred from his sleep; he always was a light sleeper. His blue eyes opened groggily, maybe she shouldn't have woken home? Although she did want to know what happened. Sting's eyes widened when he looked at her, sitting up in her hospital bed with a dazed look._

 _"Lucy!" He leaped on her, mindful of her arm before crushing his twin a strong hug. The younger blonde blinked, his arms were firm but they were shaking around her thin figure. Was he crying? She stared at his face as he pulled back, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly. His blue eyes were glaring angrily at her confused brown ones, "You idiot! I told you to stop pushing yourself so hard and what do you do!? Push yourself even more than before I told you to stop!" She flinched under his angered shout. "You ended up passing out and now you're in the hospital! You fucking scared the shit out of me and Dad!"_

 _He huffed. "Now you can't dance or do anything too stressful for a week, if you had of just took a day or two off then you could still be dancing and studying for the exams but no you just had to ignore me didn't you!?" He breathed heavily through his nose. Lucy looked at him with saddened eyes, she had hurt him this much?_

 _"I'm sorry!" she cried. She never meant to make her brother worry so she made sure to hide her exhaustion from him and keep acting like everything was the same but in reality she had worried him more than before she passed out. Lucy heard her twin sigh before he released her shoulders and pulled her roughly into his body._

 _"Don't scare me like that again you idiot!"_

Her father had been furious when he walked in with two coffee cups in hand, seeing her awake. Their father had been so worried that he had taken a week off his job to watch over her and take care of her when she was released from the hospital days later. Lucy always felt bad whenever her father had to take off time from his busy work life, he was providing for the both of them and it must have been hard to take care of two teenagers alone. She decided that she would help her father out with the housework and do anything she could for him while still maintaining her good grades and dance career. She flexed her arms.

Although she liked to say she was independent now that she was older and more aware of the world but, she wasn't. Lucy found herself often relying on her brother but more so on her father, relying on him for comfort, for advice, for encouragement. She could still remember when she had all but lost her sanity after loosing her mother and had almost, regrettably, quit dancing, the one thing she loved to do. Somehow, though, Wesslogia had convinced her to pursue her dance career and do whatever made her happiest.

 _Lucy sat silently swinging on the swing attached to the tree outside their house. Her face was sorrowful and tears dripped down the side of her face. She hadn't been able to even look at her dance bag since the news. It hurt so much, she wanted to dance, dancing was her life-her passion but without that one person to always encourage her it was getting harder and harder to dance each day. She decided she could dance without her. It was too hard and it hurt Lucy to even think about dancing again without her._

 _Maybe she should find another passion?_

 _She did always love writing. It was something she found herself doing often and, she enjoyed it. While Lucy didn't exactly wish to peruse writing as a career she found benefits to that future. "It's less of a risk if I do less physical activity," she muttered to herself. "I could prolong my life by just sitting and writing novels for a living..." But was that really what she wanted? She knew what she was getting into the moment she asked her parents to buy her those ballet shoes. What did she really want to do? Dance or write?_

 _"Lucy?" Her father voice reached her ears. She swiped at the tears trailing down her cheeks and turned to her concerned father. He took a seat on the swing next to hers and scuffed his feet against the ground. He didn't look at her and he didn't speak, just simply swung lightly back and fourth with his feet planted firmly on the ground and his eyes trained on the ground. After a moment he spoke, "What's going on with you lately Lucy? You've barely eaten anything, you've been ignoring your teachers... You haven't even gone to your dance lessons." She hid her face behind her bangs. He should know why. He paused his movements, "is this about your mother?"_

 _"...What do you think?"_

 _Wesslogia sighed sadly and stopped swinging. "You know she wouldn't want to see you like this Lucy." She shrugged and scuffed her feet against the dirt beneath them. She knew very well that Layla wouldn't want to see her like this but he didn't expect her to be over it within a mere few weeks did he? "UI know it hurts but we can't let this accident keep us form doing what we need to."_

 _"But I can't Papa!" She cried brokenly. "I can't forget! That was no accident it was plain_ Murder _! I want to dance again, I really do but every time I try to start again it hurts. Mama's not here anymore, she can't teach me, she can't help me with difficult moves, she can't congratulate me when I do a good job. I can't even get a hug from her anymore..." Wesslogia looked at his daughter with understanding eyes, he knew how it felt, He knew how it felt to feel empty and to do things that they all did before that moment as if nothing happen. He understood._

 _Wesslogia grabbed his daughter and pulled her into a hug. "I know it hurts baby, I really do but you can't do this to yourself. Its not good to be so unhappy for so long." He told his daughter, "I can't do everything your mother did with you but I can try my hardest to be there for you, and I know it will take a long time for you to get back to dancing but sweetheart you can't stop doing something you love because of this. You are stronger than this and I know you can get through it."_

 _"...I don't think I will."_

 _He looked down at Lucy curiously. "What do you mean?"_

 _"I don't think I'm going to dance anymore," she told him bluntly. "I mean I could start writing again, I do still enjoy that. This can be good, I could be healthier doing something with less physical strain on my body, I could stay really healthy this way Papa, I'm sure Mama would like that. For me to stay here I mean." Her fathers eyes widened and he gripped her shoulders._

 _"Why are you suddenly speaking this way? You never worried over your condition before," he shook his head. "Your mother would want you to do what you love."_

 _"And I love writing." She smiled without mirth, "Just think Papa, I could stay longer than what the doctors say if I continue dance, I could take care of Sting and you and Laxus..."_

 _"No," he dismissed her words. He stayed silent a moment and released her shoulders, beginning his languid swings once again. The wind blew through Lucy's hair as she stayed silent, neither one of them spoke but the heaviness in the air surrounding them was clear as day. She sighed. He may not like it but this was the better option either way. "Do you remember what you said to me when you asked to peruse dance just like your mother?" She paused at the sudden question and then shook her head._

 _"No."_

 _He smiled, "you told me that you wanted to shine just like your mother did. You wanted to be up on stage showing others that you could do the impossible." He sighed, "You said you didn't want to be stopped by your condition and do whatever you wanted to do despite the doctors beliefs." Wesslogia looked at her. "You told me you wanted to live." He paused momentarily, "I didn't have faith in you back then, I was going to tell you know-that it was too dangerous for you and your health could deplete but your mother, she convinced me to let you start." He chuckled, "thinking back on it now I realised how oblivious I had been, I should have realised you were stronger than that, you are your mothers daughter after all."_

 _"Papa?"_

 _He sighed, "What I'm trying to say baby is that you can't shy away from this. You were always determined before to not let you condition hold you back and that was what made your mother and I proud, that you had the strength to face you future without any visible fear within you." He hugged her closer to his chest, "One day I'm going to leave you too, I can't stay forever but while I am here I want to see my children be happy with their life and what you are doing right now and something that isn't going to make you happy." He kissed her forehead as she cried in his chest, "That's all you mother and I will ever ask of you, Lucy."_

After she had finished speaking with her father she had a renewed energy and began practicing her dance more than ever. She wanted to make her father proud, and she wanted her mother to be able to rest in peace instead of worrying about her. She sighed slowly and allowed the music to guide her body across the room. Lucy hadn't gone completely back to her usual self right away, she got a little bit of her smile back after speaking with Wesslogia but it took a few more years to get over everything.

Admittedly, it was hard to start dancing again without her mothers guidance, a few times she had considered giving up all together but her fathers words and the memory of her mother was what kept her going. Laxus had always made sure to go to her recitals and bring her to practice while Sting occasionally helped her with her homework, she felt loved and cared for when she saw how much work they were putting into helping her get back on her feet when they were struggling just as much.

She could still remember that day so clearly. The report they saw on the news, every bated breath and stuttered heartbeat. It was as if everything happened just moments before now. Of course it hadn't. It had been eight years since that day but it was like a vivid nightmare that she could see every time she fell asleep, she couldn't forget it.

 _It had been a month since Layla had left and it was finally time for her to board her flight back home. Lucy couldn't hide her excitement that night as she eagerly ate her soup and watched television with her family. She could hear Laxus laughing behind her at the joke an actor made in the show, her brother was holding her closely on his lap ash she curled up to him with her soup held in her hands. Sting sat beside them both with his head rested against their brothers shoulder while their father Wesslogia sat in a recliner beside the occupied couch._

 _"Oh come on!" She heard her brother complain, his blue eyes staring intently at the television screen. "That is extremely unrealistic!" Sting complained indifferently as Laxus pat his head._

 _"It's a movie Buddy, not everything is going to be believable in some." Their brother explain amusedly, clearly finding Stings disbelief humorous as he shouted at the actors through the T.V._

 _"But they should make it believable!" Sting protested. He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "I would like movies a lot better if they were more realistic." Lucy sighed and looked at her twin._

 _"Movies are more exciting when they aren't real." She told him exasperatedly, "they show the creators imagination and creativity." He rolled his blues eyes and smirked at her._

 _"I don't think all the Barbie movies you watch are creative and_ they're _unrealistic."_

 _"The Barbie movies are awesome!" Lucy argued. "Unlike you I have a good imagination and enjoy good movies, you like all that boring stuff!" Wesslogia chuckled and shook his head at the twins._

 _"Now, Now. You wouldn't want your mother coming home to see the two of you fighting would you?" Their father scolded light-heartedly and turned his attention back to the Television. Lucy sighed and turned her attention away form her twin to look up at her older brother who was now fourteen, he hadn't said anything about the movie, he had allowed her to choose without complaint. She looked at his blank face. Maybe he didn't like it?_

 _"Laxus?" She called and his blue eyes met her chocolate brown ones. "Do you not like the movie?" She had just found a channel that was playing a movie she knew so maybe he wanted to watch something more interesting than a children's movie. He shook his head and smiled down at her._

 _"Nah, the movies alright Lucy. It's a good movie. You chose well." She beamed at his praise and leaned into his chest once again to look at the movie, she couldn't wait for her mother to come home. Since Layla had left them a month ago to participate in a national dance completion across the country, Lucy had been missing her terribly but she was coming back now._

 _Their movie paused and the image of a news-woman appeared on the screen in place of the princess they were watching. Lucy felt Laxus shift slightly to look at their father, "Dad?" His voice sounded odd. Lucy squinted at the screen and leaned forward slightly, the woman spoke. "Emergency broadcasting: flight number 7778 has been hijacked by an infamous terrorist group." Lucy's eyes widened and her hand gripped Stings cold one. She looked over at her father nervously._

 _"Papa? Isn't that-?"_

 _"Hush Lucy!" He barked at her and her mouth snapped shut as she trembled. The plane that had been hijacked was her mothers flight. She felt Laxus pulled her more closely to him along with Sting, despite his act of reassurance, Lucy could feel the small tremors racking through his body along with theirs. It wasn't as if she didn't know what was going on, her father was a police officer and she had overheard conversation that he had with her mother and Laxus about the dangers around town or hijacking reports._

 _Although this one inparticular was close to home._

 _Not only did this criminal act involve their mother but also Wesslogia. Her father had been investigating the group of terrorists that were now on the plane with her mother but he had never been able to catch them and just as he was getting a lead on the case, this happened. A small video of Layla's plane circling the air showed up beside the newscasters grim face. They held their breath as they waited for further information. Surely her mother would be fine? The group would be arrested and her mother would be safe._

 _Right?_

 _Lucy looked at her father about to question him of her mothers safety when his phone rang. His eyes snapped from the Television and he answered the phone hoarsely. "Hello?" They watched as his eyes widened before tears started rolling down his face. This came as a surprise to both Lucy and Sting, never in their life had they seen their father shed one tear, even when Lucy was hospitalized he never cried. He took the phone away form his ear and put the phone on speaker. "They can hear you now."_

"Hi Baby's!"

 _"Mama!" Lucy froze and her eyes turned to the footage of the plane circling in the air, was the T.V slow. Why was her mother so cheerful when she just had a scary experience? "Mom, are you okay!?" Laxus called to her, his voice cracking slightly as he squeezed them._

"I'm okay Laxus." _She paused and they could hear faint, weeping voices in the background._ "Listen I don't have much time. They only let us have a few minutes to talk before we have to hang up."

 _"What do you mean Mom?" Sting questioned. "You're safe aren't you? You're coming home to us, right?" There was a pause on the other line before they heard Layla sigh._

"No Sweetie, Mom's still on the plane with the bad man." _A male's loud voice came through their mothers end before she spoke brusquely._ "Sting, Mom wants you to know that she is very excited about you being in the finals for your boxing match and she wants you to study hard and keep the grades up for her, okay? Take good care of your sister." _Sting gave a loud sob as Laxus tensed behind her._

 _"Mom?"_

"Laxus! I want you to know that I never once stopped paying attention to you, that I was always worrying about you even when you were at home. I don't want you to be lonely anymore Laxus, let people in." _She sniffled lightly before giggling,_ "and ask Mirajane out already! That girl is practically dying waiting for you to make the first move!" _Lucy furrowed her brows. Why was her mother saying this stuff? It was like she was saying a big goodbye to them. She was coming back though, wasn't she?_ "Take care of the twins for me?"

 _"I-I will."_

"Hand the phone to Lucy, Laxus." _Laxus passed the phone over to her and she took it with a shaking hand._

 _"Mama?"_

"Hey baby! How has your dance lessons been going?"

 _"T-They're good, Mama? What's happening?"_

 _Layla sighed_ , "Mama has to go soon baby so please listen to me okay?" _Lucy made a noise of agreement and waited._ "You have made Mama so proud with how strong you've been and I know, I _know_ it's hard sometimes with your condition but I don't want you to let that stop you form doing what you want." _The male voice came through again, more strongly this time._ "Mama believes in you Lucy, so don't stop believing in yourself. Can you do that for me?" _Lucy sniffed but said nothing more_. "...Mama loves you Lucy."

 _"I-I love you too Mama!" She pulled the phone away form her mouth as her mother expressed her love to her children before she was handed of to their father once again._

 _"Layla."_

"Hey Honey," _she was crying now._ "I love you very much, but of course you know that right? You always said you did." _Wesslogia smiled despite himself before replying._

 _"Yeah, Yah I did, didn't I?"_

"Yes you did." _She breathed a sigh._ "You're going to be on your own from now on, are you going to be okay?"

 _"Honestly I don't know," he told her quietly. "I can't do as good a job as you but I can do my best for you and the kids."_

"I know you will, Wesslogia." _She sniffed._ "Listen, I don't know who is behind all this but they mentioned their leader going by the initials of A.F I hope that can help you find out who did this somehow... I have to go now, I love you guys so much-" _The phone went dead and their eyes flew to the screen just in time to see the plane crashing down on the remote island._

After that none of them had been the same. Laxus didn't smile as much anymore, Sting was angrier than usual, their father was different and she-Lucy had lost her sense of rhythm when it came to dance. They healed though, but it took time. Laxus did eventually end up asking Mira to be his girlfriend to which she excitedly told him yes. Her father had developed a drinking habit though, the loss of his wife finally taking its toll on him and while he still does drink heavily at times, he's never given up hope completely.

Sting, he had acted as their caretaker, mending the holes their mother left behind and bringing them closer together than ever before and for that, she was thankful. She smiled lightly and slammed herself into the wall before twisting off of it. She may find him annoying but she really did love her twin. Her smile dropped as she twirled. It was the day she and Sting turned fourteen that sent her crashing back to the start of her despair.

 _Her brown eyes widened in horror. Just after she and Sting had blow out the candles on their cakes and opened their gifts Laxus had dropped the bomb on them. Her brother was now at the age of nineteen and had come over to celebrate their birthday. Lucy was excited, she hadn't seen her older brother in awhile and she missed him but after she had her short moment of happiness it was immediately replaced with shock and fear. "What!?" She and Sting stared at him in disbelief while their father froze in his place._

 _"You heard me." Laxus told them. "I'm going to join the Military." Maybe she hadn't heard him right, or maybe he was just playing a bad joke on them. That had to be it. He was just trying to scare them to get back at them for forgetting his birthday right? Sting stepped forward and grimaced as he looked at their brother._

 _"You're joking right?" He asked, "This is a prank right? You're still mad about your birthday aren't you? We said we were sorry!" Laxus shook his head and placed his large hand over Sting's head._

 _"This isn't a prank Buddy, this is something I decided awhile ago." He told them and looked at his father, "Ill be drafted out next week." Lucy leaped from her seat and ran to her brother, fear overtaking her mind. Was her brother going to leave to? Were they going to loose Laxus to?_

 _"This isn't funny Laxus!" She cried desperately, it had to be a joke. He couldn't just leave. "You cant stop now." He kneeled in front of her and gripped her shoulders, staring her dead in the eye._

 _"Lucy, I am not joking, I will be leaving in one week to join the military." She froze, her body shaking at the sound of the news. Why was he leaving? He had even promised her he would be there for them but he couldn't do that now that he was about to fight in the war. Didn't he know how much he was hurting her? How much he was hurting them? Her father was in a state of disbelief, Sting looked as if he wanted to lock Laxus up in a cell and throw away the key and she could already feel herself losing control._

 _She slapped him._

 _"Then leave if you're going to." Lucy spat at him before racing up the stairs, the voices of her father and brothers calling her were faint. She raced into her bedroom and slammed the door closed before she dropped to her knees and cried. She couldn't understand her brother sudden decision to join an occupation where he could get killed at any moment, he knew how much they suffered when Layla had died so why was he doing something so dangerous. She jus couldn't understand why he would do it._

 _Her chest constricted in pain the more she thought of her brother leaving, he breaths coming out in ragged gasps as her heart thrashed around in her chest. Oh Mavis it hurt but she was stubborn and she was not going to move from this spot. She just needed to calm herself and she would be fine._ Breath like Mama told you to. In. Out. In. Out. That's right Lucy, breath just like that. _A knock sounded on the door and she stiffened. "Lucy? Can I talk to you please?" It was Laxus. Her even breaths faltered and her heart rate sped up._

 _"No." She gasped and clutched her chest. Lucy's head hit the door behind her as she heard Laxus sigh._

 _"Fine then I will talk to you like this." That was fine. She wouldn't listen anyway. "I know you are mad Lucy and I can understand why, I would be too if you or Sting decided to do something like this. I would have probably reacted the same way you did." The why did you say it? Why did you decided to leave us when you knew how much it would hurt?_ "But this is something I want to do."

 _Stop! I don't want to hear it! "I want to stop things from happening, Dad is helping people as a police man but he can only do so much. I don't like the idea of war but I can help prevent possible dangers coming to our country and still keep you, Sting, Dad and even Mira safe, Lucy."_

 _"...Is this because of Mama?"_

 _He sighed, "that is a big part of the reason why I am doing this but I have always wanted to help people and I think I can do it this way. Yeah, there are risks but there are risks even just being in here Lucy."_

 _"Then why not just join a higher position in the police force like Dad? You could do a whole lot and still protect us here." She reasoned. "And what about Mira? Did you tell her about all this?"_

 _"I did tell her, she's not completely satisfied with my reasons but she's supporting me." He paused and a moment of silence passed by them before he spoke again. "Listen, I know that you're never going to like me going to war but I need you to believe in me. I need you to believe I can do this. Can you do this for me Lu?" She waited a moment. Should she? She didn't want to end things on a sour note and allow Laxus to leave while they were fighting. What if this was the last time they could speak to each other and he ends up..._

 _She opened the door and flung her arms around him. "I don't want you to go!" He hugged her tightly and stroked her hair, seating himself on her bed as he cradled her._

 _"I know you don't."_

 _"I don't want you to get hurt or end up like mom..." She shook. Lucy didn't want to see her family in pain and she had already seen enough of it after her mother died in the plain crash._

 _"Hey," he said gently. "Have a little more faith in your brother. I want you to keep that smile for me." He sighed at the sight of her grave face and pulled her into his chest, resting his head on her shoulder. "I promise I will come back to you and everyone else. I won't go down without a fight and I_ will _come home to you, alright?"_

A week later Laxus left leaving Lucy, Sting and Wesslogia behind. Lucy did keep to her promise and tried to smile for her family and Mirajane but it was hard not being able to call her brother frequently and check up on him. She wanted to know he was okay and that he would be coming home soon but she had to be patient and believe her brother was fine. He visited them once after he was drafted and she was happy.

At the time.

But then he just, disappeared. They lost all communication with him and his officers in command had assumed him to be dead. Although they never found him so she ignored their condolences and kept thinking that one day he would come home, just like her mother would.

Someday.

That was almost three years ago though. They still had heard no word of Laxus return or if he was even alive. Lucy stopped and allowed her breath to catch up to her, the music dying out in the background. For now she would keep doing what she was doing before her brother disappeared, before her mother's plane crashed, before anything was screwed up. She would just keep dancing and doing the impossible. Lucy sighed and walked over to her bag to grab her towel and hoodie. Porlyusica would be coming around soon with her next class and the guest were sure to arrive momentarily so she better get out.

Lucy wiped the sweat off her face as a sudden clap sounded around her. She stilled. Wasn't she supposed to be alone? She turned around allowed her brown eyes to roam over the tall figure across the room. His toned body was the first thing she noticed, he looked as if he was in good shape. She looked up at hi face, his mouth was set in a wide grin, his hair tousled around in pink spikes and his eyes were onyx colored, staring directly at her, tinged with shock and amazement. He smiled.

"That was awesome!"

* * *

 _ **Still Breathing**_

 _ **'-Don't shut me out.'**_

 _ **Third Breath**_

* * *

 **Shattered-Nightmares712: So here is the chapter. It's a little short, sorry! Was it surprising that I made Laxus a soldier? I thought it would be an interesting concept for the characters to experience, my grandfather was a soldier so I asked him a few things before making the final decision. I will be making a short chapter for Halloween and it will have everyone in it! Natsu will be, as promised, in the next chapter of the story and we can finally have the two characters meet! The whole ordeal with Lucy being in the hospital was based off my experience of staying over night, I was an idiot and got dehydrated ending up with me attached to an I.V and being hospitalized. I felt like shit and so I used my experience for Lucy's. Thanks so much for reading, if there is any confusion about anything in the chapter feel free to ask it and I will answer to the best of my ability!  
Until Next Time!  
**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	4. Third Breath: Commence

**So if some of you read**

 **my other FanFiction's than you will see I updated a Halloween chapter**

 **on those but I didn't with this one**

 **because I couldn't think of anything. Kind of lame but yeah.**

 **Anyway here is the chapter you have all been waiting for!**

 **Where Natsu and Lucy finally meet!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'Yeah, you look at me like I'm a stranger-'_**

 ** _Third Breath: Commence_**

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

"That was awesome!" He watched as she stared at him with wide eyes, her chest rising up and down rapidly-no doubt from the intense dancing she had just been doing before he made himself known to her. Really, he had been captivated by her dancing, it was so strong and heartfelt, it was amazing to put it simply. "You're really good at dancing." The blonde girl gave him a confused look before turning around and grabbing the rest of her things and pulling her sweater over her head before walking around him. "Hey! Isn't it nice to say thanks after being given a compliment?" Why was he trying to prolong this conversation exactly?

She turned around and placed her hands on her hips. "Thank you for coming into a room that says keep out." Natsu watched as she pointed to the sign on the door which he had not bothered to read before coming in. Way to make yourself look like an idiot Natsu. He followed her out of the room, what was wrong with him today? "Why are you following me?"

"Because I want to talk to you..."

She turned to face him. "Fine, what do you want?" He though a moment. What did he want? He just spoke to her on a split second decision, he hadn't thought about why he did it, he just did.

"What's your name?" She seemed to analyze him, probably debating on whether or not she should give some stranger her name. He decided an introduction was in order. "My names Natsu Dragneel, I'm visiting here today."

"Oh, so you're the one Ms. Porlyusica was speaking about." The old hag had mentioned him, huh? She sighed, "My names Lucy. No if you'll excuse me Mr. Stalker, I'd like to go home." At this time? It was already dark out. Was nobody going to pick her up? She only looked to be in high school, surely someone would come and get her. He had to ask.

"Are you walking home?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because it's dark out." That should have been obvious. Although with the impression he made on her perhaps she took the question as a way to try and follow her to her house. He wouldn't do something like that, it was just weird.

"If you must know I am, I have homework to work on." So she was a student. He watched as she placed a few things in a locker before locking it beginning to walk out the building.

"Wait!" He jogged up to her. "I came here with a few friends, we're looking for a dancer to hire to be in our music video, none of us can really dance and we need someone who's really good."

"So you're a musician."

"Yes, we recently just got recognized by a record company." He looked at her. "I would like to know if you would want to be in our music video as the dancer..." Lucy looked around him.

"I don't see any of your band members."

"They're still looking at other dancers but we're not really impressed with any of them."

"You must have some really high standards because this school is filled with great dancers." She shouldered her bag and shook her head at him. "Sorry, but I'm not interested. Find someone else to do the part." He didn't want to though. She was perfect to for the part.

"I think you would be the best choice though."

"You haven't even seen all the dancers yet."

"If they're anything like the others than I don't think they would be better than you." He handed her a card. "Here's my number. If you have second thoughts give me a call and we can work something out." He turned around and walked back into the studio, leaving no room for her to refuse him. Natsu couldn't think of having another dancer for the video. Her choreography and form were perfect and they needed someone like that.

 ** _…_**

"I'm telling you guys she's perfect for the part!" Natsu told the group when they sat down in the staff room of the dance studio with Porlyusica. Gajeel, his asshole of a friend since elementary school, glared at him.

"Salamander we haven't even see 'er yet, how are we 'sposed to know if she good enough or not. We all have to agree to this."

"Did you at least remember to get her name?" Jackal, a friend he and Gajeel had met in High School, asked with a bored look on his face.

"Yes I did! Her name's Lucy."

"Lucy?" Porlyusica looked at him strangely. "Good luck with that." Of course the old bat knows who the blonde is. Natsu felt stupid for not thinking of that sooner.

"What do you mean Gram's?" Lyon asked. His dark eyes narrowing on her face as she scowled at them.

"Her names Lucy Dreyar, she's my top student here." She looked over at Natsu. "I don't think she will accept, she is extremely busy at home and between that and coming to her dance practice, she has little time for anything more." He really wanted to have Lucy in their music video. It had been three years since he, Gajeel, Mest, Lyon and Jackal started the band with him being the lead singer. They had been posting videos of them as they practiced their original songs and just recently been contacted by a record company and said they would sign them.

But they need one more song.

The record company suggested they make a love song but with his recent break up Natsu had not been feeling the usual inspiration he did for creating music. But he did it and now they needed to proceed quickly with making this video and everything needed to be perfect. Including the dancer. "Could I persuade you to help me?"

Porlyusica hesitated. "…It better not interfere with my students learning."

"It won't." Natsu tapped his chin before telling her what he was thinking. "What if you told Lucy you wanted her to expand her learning and work in unfamiliar conditions, create her own choreography and teach someone how to do it." She seemed to consider it a moment.

"…Do what you wish. It won't do her any harm." He smiled and high-fived his band mates before she interrupted their cheery mood. "But I have a condition. If Lucy says she needs to take time off for something you best give that child time off or I will not allow her to be in that music video since she is _my_ student."

"Deal!"

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

"Dad's working late again." Sting told her as she finished up making their dinner two days after her meeting with Natsu. To say she had been shocked to be recruited by an up and rising band was an understatement. If she was being honest with herself, Lucy had considered calling the singer quite a few times but decided against it. Her family needed her and between school, home and dance she would have no time to choreograph a dance for a music video, let alone be the one in it.

Although she decided that she wouldn't take him up on his offer, she still kept his number in her pocket-even now she had it on her. Lucy turned off the stove and poured the noodles in two bowls for herself and Sting before storing the rest away for their father in the fridge as she did every night. "Again? He didn't even eat the dinner I left in the fridge for him the other day." Sting nodded.

"Yeah I know, I was the one who ate the rest of it."

"Well I figured considering you're the only other person inhabiting this house along with Dad and I." He rolled his eyes and shoved a forkful of noodles in his mouth.

"Do you have practice tonight?" She nodded and he heaved a sigh. "Why don't you take a break for tonight Sis? It's not like the old bat even asks you to come to practice anymore, you're her top student! Hell you could even be doing her job about now!" Lucy shook her head at him, she couldn't possibly take Ms. Porlyusica's place, she was too inexperienced despite her brothers insistence.

"I have too much to learn before I could ever be on Ms. Porlyusica's level, Sting."

"Whatever. You should really stop being so modest though, Sis, guys don't find that sexy." She huffed at his smug grin and shoved a piece of noodle in her mouth begrudgingly.

"It's not like I'm looking for a boyfriend anyway."

"But you do need one." Mavis now she knew how Levy felt. She didn't need a boyfriend and even if she had one Lucy was sure he'd break up with her within the first week or two-she wouldn't have any time for him between dance, home and school. It just wouldn't work out and he would be miserable for the whole duration of their relationship.

"I have no time for something so trivial." She was lying. Lucy often felt an emptiness in her heart, one that Sting and her father could not fill-she loved them to death but she wanted something more. Although she was always too afraid to approach someone that could possibly fill that emptiness, she was afraid she would hurt them or they would hurt her. Sometimes she wondered whether the emptiness she felt was from the absences of her eldest brother and her mother. It was something that always held her back.

Another fear she had was not being accepted for who she is. Her friends have been in the dating game longer than her, considering she had little to no experience-there was one in which she regretted, she often overheard her friends speaking of how their boyfriends would point out their flaws and how they should changed them. Lucy didn't want that. She wanted to be able to be herself around the person she loved without them trying to morph her into the perfect image they held for a girl. Everyone has flaws and she didn't want them pointed out when she already knows what they are.

"Come on, Lucy! I want to have some nieces and nephews!" Her face burned red and she huffed away from him, taking her dishes to the sink.

"We already have one!"

"Yeah but that doesn't count!"

"How!?"

"Because I want one form my baby sister!" That was not something a brother should say to their sister.

"I'm only younger by a few minutes Jackass!"

"And I'll take those few minutes." He's impossible. She decided to give up on the argument because there was no way of getting him to see things from her side of the story. Besides she and Sting already have a nephew, she didn't see the point in rushing another so soon. He leaned against the counter, "Speaking of nephews, when are we going to visit Mira again?" She flicked the water off her hands and dried them with the towel before grabbing her bag.

"I don't know, how about we go see her and Ryo this weekend. We haven't seen them in a while anyway and I'm sure Mira won't mind us dropping in."

"Sure." She walked toward the door and slipped her shoes on before turning to him with a stern look.

"No eating Papa's food while I'm gone and leave a note for me so he knows he's got something to eat when he's back."

"He'll know. You've been making dinner for us and Pops for years now, he should know by now."

"Please Sting?" He stared at her a moment before turning around.

"Fine, whatever. Just go and be careful!"

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

Lucy stared at the small puffs of smoke coming from her breath as she walked down the dimly lit street. It was beginning to get dark out and the darker it got the cooler the night would be. She was freezing. Maybe she should have asked her brother to drive her over to her dance studio. No, she couldn't do that, she didn't want to bother him, although she knew her brother would want to do that for her and even tell her it was no bother at all but she found it a bother when she had two perfectly fine legs that can take her to the studio on their own. A gust of cold air passed her.

Perhaps she should consider getting her own license though.

Her mind wandered to the singer who tried scouting her for his video the other day, he didn't seem to give off a bad vibe but the way he dressed was opposite for that of a 'nice boy look'. He had worn baggy ripped-jeans, a graphic T-shirt and a leather jacket with a dirty-looking scarf around his neck. The worst thing about his outfit was the ugly scarf hanging from his neck, it needed to be washed badly, and she wondered how he could stand wearing it while it was in such a state.

Natsu reminded her a lot of a rock-band singer. Although if his band was a rock band then why were they asking a contemporary dancer for their video, wouldn't a hip-hop dancer be more suited for their style. Lucy had practiced hip-hop before but only because she had necessary requirements for other dance types and unfortunately hip-hop had been one of them. It wasn't her style nor did she enjoy the way they performed their piece, it was flashy and most of the competitors that were against her that won always shook their ass.

Lucy stilled a moment; suddenly the name Natsu Dragneel was oddly familiar. She remembered a time when she and Sting were fourteen and her brother ended up having to go against an older boxer during a match, she could still remember how excited her brother was about going against the man but she couldn't understand why-wouldn't it be more of a challenge for him to win? That was when Sting explained just who he was up against, a top boxer named Natsu Dragneel, apparently he was someone her brother looked up to.

She slapped herself in the face. Lucy could have gotten her brother the autograph he had always wanted from Natsu had she not forgotten about that one match. Maybe this was why Sting always drilled the names of the fighters he went up against into her head, so she could remember their names and possibly get their autograph if she met them before he did. Lucy sometimes wondered how her brother could be so smart at times but when it came to school he was a dumbass. If he put that effort into his work he wouldn't be failing his classes at the moment.

Her brown eyes focused on the small building coming into view, finally she could get out of the cold! She couldn't stand winter and she wished summer would come back and allow its warmth to come over her once again. Although that wouldn't happen for another several months much to her dismay. Lucy huffed before jogging up to the building and racing inside, immediately taking off her excess clothes so she was only in her shorts and tank-tp. What would she be doing today?

 ** _Party girls don't get hurt  
Can't feel anything, when will I learn  
I push it down, push it down_**

I'm the one "for a good time call"  
Phone's blowin' up, ringin' my doorbell  
I feel the love, feel the love

It would be smart to continue practicing her solo again or maybe she could practice the dance she had been working on the other day? Lucy finished her stretches and hit play on the stereo, deciding to just do the dance she had made the other day instead of working on her solo. The competition wouldn't be for another little while so she could have these few days to herself.

 ** _1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 drink  
1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 drink  
1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 drink_**

Throw 'em back, till I lose count

She ran across the room and did a quick twirl before she slammed herself down onto the seat and hands seem as if they were holding cups before going stiff and moving her arms in a pattern as if she was a wooden puppet. Her movements stilled as the music came to an abrupt halt and she turned her eyes to look at a pink haired male standing in front of her stereo with a grin on his face and a few other men next to him.

"Weren't you practicing this yesterday?"

She huffed. "Dances are meant to be practiced more than once, besides I enjoy doing it." Lucy eyed him suspiciously, "What do you want now."

"She's feisty Salamander, 'ya sure she's good enough?"

"Trust me Metal head, she's perfect." Her fists clenched.

"I already told you my answer now if you will turn my music back on and leave me alone-"

"Sorry Luce but Porlyusica said this will be a great learning experience for you and volunteered for you to help us." Her jaw dropped. They got Ms. Porlyusica to make her dance in their dumb music video? What the hell!? "So it looks like you're going to be helping us as your dance assignment."

"…Do you even know how to dance?" She received a shake from him in return; Mavis Porlyusica was going to kill her! She had her solo to worry about and now she has to choreograph a dance for this dimwit. "If it's hip-hop or anything like that, I will choreograph but I will not dance in your video."

"No, this music is meant for contemporary or modern dance as you will…" She asked him to let her listen to the music and sure enough eh was telling the truth, it was soothing to say the least and it was something she could dance to. Something like this, it sounded simple but she could feel something different from it. "We don't usually sing these kinds of things but the music producers want a slow ballad so girls can connect to it and blah, blah, blah." That made more sense. She thought a moment.

"I'll put my all into this on one condition." They nodded at her, the others seemingly a little reluctant. "If Natsu gives me his autograph."

He smirked at her and winked. "Why, you a fan?"

"No. My brother is, he had compete against you a few years ago in a boxing match."

"What his name?"

"Sting Eucliffe Dreyar." He nodded and began signing a piece of paper on the bench next to her stereo as she switched the CD's in the stereo and asked them to take off their shoes.

"Uh, uh." A dark haired male with a scar over his eye shook his head before pointing at the rest of them. "None of us are dancing; the only one who will, will be idiot over there."

"Yeah, the songs a love song so I was thinking a duet…"

"So you want me to dance with you and choreograph a duet for the both of us…" He nodded and she sighed irritably. It wasn't as if she hadn't performed a duet with someone before but, she knew that person well and was comfortable dancing so intimately with him. Dancing with Natsu did not sound appealing to her. She looked at him, "I won't be able to do much without those lyrics you know, I can get the base but the words and meaning behind a song can help me a bit."

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I'm still working on those so it will be awhile yet." He scratched the back of his head, "Do you think you'll be able to work with that?" She nodded absent mindedly and dragged him out to the middle of the room.

"I want you to follow my steps precisely; I need to see how much work I have to do." She began her solo again and watched as he attempted to mirror her movements. He was awful. She understood that he wouldn't be a perfectionist right from the beginning but she had the feeling that he was not able to imitate people very well either. She held back a smirk when he fell on his ass. "Well that gave me some input along with a small laugh so thank you for that."

"Ha ha…" He was breathing heavy and looked as if he was already breaking out into a sweat. Lucy let out a small sigh and looked at him.

"Do you workout?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she stared down at him as he looked up at her dumbly. "Do you workout at all?"

"Well, yeah. Nothing intense but we have to keep up a certain image for our career."

"Good so I don't have too much more work to do." She helped Natsu up and handed him a water. "From now on I want you to come with me for evening jogs to build up your strength, yoga would be a good thing too-"

"No way am I doing yoga!"

"You will be if you want this performance to be a success. Not only does your career depend on this but so does Ms. Porlyusica's trust in me." She crossed her arms and watched as he gulped his water down hesitantly. She could see his band mates chuckling at his position, it was obvious that they were not used to having one of them do things like this. Lucy decided to take pity on him. "Anyone who laughs at what we do can join us." That shut them up.

Natsu nodded to her in thanks before walking over as his friends chatted amongst themselves. "Thanks for that, they can be pretty brutal with their teasing." She nodded and grabbed her bag.

"Do you have anything that could prevent you from coming to practice?"

"Yeah, I have morning classes certain days a week but evening and nights I'm free as can be."

"So you're a college student?" She shouldn't be surprised. He was already well in pursuit of his career and she doubted his parents would allow him to do so much if he was a high school student like herself He nodded and looked back at her.

"Do you need a ride? It's already pretty late and I don't feel comfortable letting a girl walk home." Lucy shook her head.

"No, I'm alright-"

"Lucy, you're getting in that car and we will drop you off at home whether you like it or not." Natsu stared at her before grabbing her arm and dragging her behind him. She peered around him as they walked out of the studio,

"You know this is basically kidnapping right?" His grip on her hand tightened before he took her bags from her and continued to walk.

"Shut up."

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'-Yeah, you make me feel like I betrayed you.'_**

 ** _Fourth Breath_**

* * *

 **Shattered-Nightmares712: Finally they meet! I was originally going to just right the whole chapter with Natsu in it and then end it with him watching Lucy and then the next chapter they would be talking with each other but I decided not to. Thanks for being patient with me! The song used in this chapter is 'Chandelier' by Sia. Sorry this is so short but I wanted to do a quick update before anything big could happen! My next update will be Hell's Gate! Thanks for reading!** **  
 **Until next time!****

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	5. Forth Breath: Rainy Day Thoughts

**And we're back!**

 **Sorry I took so long to update,**

 **I was stuck on what to write next.**

 **I'm starting my volunteer hours for school so as a warning**

 **I may not be able to update as often**

 **But I'm going to try and make a few chapters in advance**

 **So I can keep updating while I'm away and take my time**

 **With typing up a chapter since I already have some chapters ready.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'_** ** _Don't leave me stranded-_** ** _'_**

 ** _Fourth Breath: Rainy Day Thoughts_**

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

"Come on Lu-Chan," her friend rolled her eyes as she took another bite of her burger. 'He can't be that bad, I mean maybe he's just not used to the exercises you're doing." The blonde rolled her eyes as Cana spoke up.

"Does he look hot?"

She ignored her friends question and instead stared at Levy. "I'm telling you Levy-Chan, he cannot dance for the life of him," she shook her head and sipped her drink. "Literally, Plue and _Sting_ could do better than him." Levy bit into a piece of her burger as her friend chewed grumpily on her salad.

"Come on Lu-Chan, he can't be that bad."

Lucy gave her a bland look. "Levy, I was showing him how to point his feet correctly and he hurt himself!" She shook her head and raised her arms, 'How the hell do you hurt yourself by pointing your toe properly!?"

"Well he may not have good flexibility…" Lissanna proposed gently to which Cana slammed her drink onto the cafeteria table and shook her head.

"Nope! That's no good," she leaned in to speak more quietly to the blonde. "You need to have a guy with good flexibility!" Everyone at the tale just rolled their eyes at the brunette and shook their heads. Typical Cana, always thinking the dirtiest things when a hot guy comes into the conversation. She huffed and leaned away from them, her arms crossed over her chest, "What? It's true, the more flexible they are the more they can do."

"I'm pretty sure the girls need to be more flexible." All eyes shot to Lissanna at her statement, their eyes wide and mouths hanging open with have chewed food showing. The blue-eyed teen blushed darkly and slid down in her seat, trying her best to hide the roaring blush on her face.

"Lissanna-San…" Juvia tilted her head questioningly, a devious glint in her eye. "Is there something you would like to tell Juvia and the others?"

"No!" She squeaked, waving her hands frantically in front of her face. "No! I have nothing to say about that statement!"

"Did you and your ex do the dirty Lis?" Cana smirked.

"No!" She screeched in embarrassment. "…Not with him." Lucy's eyes widened as she spit out her salad on her plate, as far as she knew, Lissanna hadn't dated anyone before her last boyfriend so that means that she would have had to do that with someone just recently. But that couldn't be possible, Lissanna had just been telling her and Yukino about how she still missed her ex, so if she was telling the truth about her feelings then why would she do something like this? The bell rang, signalling the end of their lunch break and everyone whinnied while slowly getting up from their seats.

Lucy hastily packed up her bag and chased after her friend. "Lissanna!" She called out, watching as her friends slowly came to a stop to wait for her. "Were you being serious back there?" When her friend nodded, she asked, "Does Mira know?"

She nodded. "Mira-nee isn't very happy about it, but yes, I told her."

Lucy nodded her head, walking silently beside her friend, glancing at her every once in awhile. "But I thought you didn't date anyone before your last boyfriend?"

"I haven't."

"Then..?" Lissanna nodded. "But you were just telling Yukino and I the other day about how you still missed him, so why would you?" Her friend huffed and Lucy watched as she turned to her in irritation, a arm wrapped around her book and the other resting against her hip.

"What Lucy?"

"Well, if you still love him then why did you have sex with someone else?" She couldn't understand people like that. If they loved somebody and wanted to be together with them for the rest of their life, then they should preserve their bodies for that person. Why would you go and have sex without love? She was no pure soul, the way she often dressed made men think she was easy but despite her dress code she strict when it came to doing intimate things like sex. She wanted o wait for the right person.

"Why does it matter?" Lissanna countered. "Just because I still have feelings for my ex doesn't mean I can't try to get over him." She turned away from the blonde. "If I want to have sex with a guy then I can, you and Mira are exactly the same." She shook her head. "Mira kept herself for Laxus and look where that got her, Laxus is gone and she alone at home with a small child!" She turned away in a huff and stomped off to her class.

Lucy blinked at her friends outburst, a little hurt that she said those things about her family. Her brother wasn't gone, and she knows it but she has no proof so all she can do is hope for his return blindly, and Mira. Sweet, aunt Mira. The poor woman was working a job as a bartender to provide for her family and her son. She could see how much she hurt every time she looked at the little boy she and Laxus had produced, the anguish and sadness she felt to know that her son may never get to see his father. Sometimes she wondered if she was really the only one who truly believed Laxus would come home to them.

He would.

He _had_ to come back.

Laxus couldn't just leave, Sting, Mira, her father and herself all alone. He had to come back. He has to come see how successful Sting is in his boxing, how their father is doing with his cases as a police officer, he needed to see Mira, with their son for the first time in his life and he needed to come see just how miserable they were without him. Lucy decided against going to her class and quickly exited her school, shooting a quick text to Sting to let him know they wouldn't be walking together today.

Her eyes watered up as she walked away. She missed her brother so much, just wanted him to come home and look at her with those warm eyes like he always used to, wrap his arms around her and Sting and tell them _"I'm home",_ but he wasn't. Laxus is lost somewhere that even his brothers fighting alongside him cannot find. With the dark thoughts swirling around her mind, Lucy walked to the dance studio with hollow thoughts of her big brother coming home.

 ** _…_**

Natsu sighed tiredly as he drove away from his studio, a large headache coming on as he thought over his label records complaints about their music. He understood that everything had to be perfect before it was put on the album and they needed to get the music video out for his new song but he needed time to write his lyrics and between performing and getting dance lessons from Lucy, it was hard to stay awake long enough to make any real progress on the lyrics.

They needed to be sweet and soft but at the moment, he didn't feel that, couldn't find his inspiration to write anything about love. His mind wandered to a girl he had been with, she had been so young, so full of passion and cheer; it was like she had sucked all the energy out of him by the time they had separated, he wondered if she was still the same, doing well in everything she put her mind to. He bet she is.

She was a breath of fresh air to him but near the end, he found that he felt like he was forcing himself more and more to do things with her and keep up with, he no longer felt that same pull like the day he asked her to be his girlfriend, no longer was he excited to see her the next morning or eager for their time together, he just felt, empty. The person he thought he had loved, he had realized, was just someone he was attracted to, he wasn't in love with her, sure he may have loved her for a time but he was never deeply in love with her.

He felt like shit, like he had been leading her on but he was always reasoned that he felt something when they started dating, that he always thought it was love and sure, he may have thought it at the time but now that he looks back on it, he feels like an ass for not seeing the signs. Natsu turned on a corner and rubbed a calloused hand on his face, perhaps he really didn't know what love felt like-maybe he just hadn't experienced it yet, any time he asked, no one had given him a real explanation, just that you feel butterflies and your heart races. But that can happen to anyone that's attracted to another.

It was always "you would just know", never "this is the reason why you would love a person" but how are you supposed to distinguish just what you know, you get this feeling that its right? But he had that feeling with his ex and it wasn't right, so how? He shook his head and looked up at the road. Why was he even dwelling on this anymore? It had been awhile since their break up? Maybe it's because he's just realizing how little he knew about both his ex and himself. Suddenly, he spotted a blonde headed girl through his blurry wind shield, rain pouring down on her. He realized the girl was Lucy.

Natsu quickly pulled to the side and drove slower honking the horn at her and rolling down the window when she jumped. "Get in." He told her more than urged her, "It's raining and you'll get sick." He watched as her eyes widened and stuck her hand out of her pockets, palm facing upward and look at the small droplets of rain that fell into it, she hadn't realized it was raining, he realized. _She seems distracted._ Natsu hopped out of his truck and gently lead her to the passenger seat of the car. "Come on, hop in, I'll give you a ride."

"Natsu?" She looked at him strangely and he held up a finger to pause her as he raced to the driver's seat of the car before allowing her to speak again. "Why are you here?"

"Just driving around a bit, thought I might get in some extra dance practice before you came, try to impress you with my skills." He chuckled when she rolled her eyes at him. "Why were you walking out in the rain?"

"I didn't realize it had started raining, it wasn't when I had left."

"Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Shouldn't you be with your band?"

"I asked you first." He countered back, glancing at her from the side as he pulled back onto the main road, "why aren't you in class. From what I know, this isn't like you."

"You don't know me." She huffed and crossed her arms over her wet clothes. "I can ditch class if I want to."

"But I know you wouldn't." He fired back. "Now are you going to tell me why you aren't in class or am I going to have to talk to the old hag?"

"Ms. Porlyusica and it's nothing." When he gave her a pointed look she caved slightly, "I had a small argument with my friend." He raised a brow at her ,

"Now was this fight so bad that you had to sacrifice your education."

"It's only one class."

"Yes but that could cost you anyway." He looked at her when they stopped at a red light, "You parents won't be very happy about it."

"I doubt it, I'm getting high 80's in all my classes." She bragged slightly with a proud smile, "and my father isn't home most times, doubt he will be home tonight so I can just delete the message from the school."

"Tsk, Lucy's breaking the rules." She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm lightly, "Hey! Do not hit the driver!" She giggled quietly before squinting her eyes at the road.

"Where are we going? This isn't the way to the studio."

"That's because it isn't," he told her, taking a sharp turn to the right. "I'm getting us some food, you seem like you need someone to talk to."

"I'm not the only one." She grumbled. 'You don't look like you're in the best of moods either." Natsu shrugged his shoulder at her.

"How about this, fair trade, I'll tell you what's bugging me and you tell me what's bother you?" He didn't wait for her to respond as he ordered them food from _Tim Hortons_. He thanked the person who handed them their food and drinks before parking his truck in a quiet end of the parking lot. "You have no say in this. Now tell me what got you so upset with this fight."

She looked hesitant to say anything as she nursed her Tea; instead she looked distastefully at the donuts he had bought them. "I shouldn't eat those you know," she looked him up and down, "neither should you as a matter of fact."

"Come on, what's one donut going to do?"

"Well you aren't in the best of shape at the moment anyway and I don't really like donuts anyway." His eyes widened and mouth dropped open at her statement.

"What!? How can you _not_ like donuts?" She scrunched her nose in disgust and shook her head. His face went stoic, "You are not human, and donuts are life." She shook her head.

"I find that they don't taste that good," she told him. "And it's not that weird! Sting doesn't like chocolate!"

"Your brother right?" She nodded. "Your family is weird." He decided before looking at her again, "But you're the real weirdo."

"Am not!"

"Yes you are." He took another bite of his donut and gesture with his head, "Now tell me what got you so upset, you said you and your friend got into a fight."

She sipped her tea. "… I was talking to my group of friends at school about you and-don't give me that look! I was telling them how bad of a dancer you were!"

"I am not that terrible."

She ignored him, "and then suddenly my friend made a comment about how girl need flexibility when they do… things." She made a face, "long story short, we found that she had just had sex."

"Okay, but how did this result in a fight between you and her?"

Lucy squirmed uncomfortably but continued to speak. "Well I asked her if she was being truthful and if her big sister knew, which it was a yes to both. I asked her why she had done that considering she had just been talking to me and another friend about how she wasn't over her ex who she recently broke up with and then she went and had sex with a guy she didn't love." Lucy looked out the window, "She told me she was trying to get over her ex and that she didn't care to wait and said some things about my brother and her sister and where that ended up."

Natsu looked at her for a moment before asking, 'If you don't mind, what did she mean by your brother and her sister and where that ended up?" When she hesitated a moment he hastily told her, "You know what-don't answer that, it's none of my business." Although he really wanted to know he didn't want to make Lucy anymore upset than she already was.

"No, its…okay." She licked her lips and nervously started, "I have an older brother, Laxus, he joined the military some years ago and he would sometimes come home to visit us, or write to us when it suddenly all just stopped." She looked pained and Natsu felt compelled to take that pain away from her but instead, stayed quiet and listened, "We soon found out that they had lost all contact with my brother and could no longer find him, my brother is somewhere out there, lost or maybe caught by one of the enemies on the other side." She wiped a stray tear. "And my friend commented that there was no point in waiting like her sister did to lose her virginity to the one she loved. Her sister had ended up pregnant and now his a little boy, but that is the besides the point. I think what her sister did was right and even though my brother hasn't come back home or may not ever, she is in love with him and is planning to spend the rest of her life with him if he returns. It just… made me think about things and I may be overreacting but it just made me upset to hear her say that."

"I'm not saying that you're wrong but essentially it is her choice, I agree that she should wait for the right person to do something like that with but if this is her way of thinking then she doesn't think that she should have to wait unless she wants to."

"But she's only sixteen!"

"And that makes a difference?" He questioned her, "Just because someone is older than eighteen doesn't make anymore right, just most times everyone is mature enough to make the right decision, if she thinks that she can make her relationship with this guy by building it off of sex then she can do it, I'm not saying I'm okay with it because there is many things that can happen with sex like with your brother and his girlfriend, they ended up having a child together. But I'm sure that your friend knows about what can happen and took the proper safety precautions, Lucy."

"But-"

"So, if this boy your friend had sex with was a person she was absolutely sure she was in love with, would that be okay with you?" She nodded hesitantly and he continued, "But she's sixteen, right? A year younger than you, how would she know if that boy loved her back? You may have know Laxus loved his girlfriend because he is your brother but if you don't know who this person is, how can anyone be sure he wasn't just trying to get her to have sex with him? This conversation is getting completely off topic here." He shook his head. "All I'm saying, Luce, is that although you may think she should wait, maybe she doesn't think she has to, maybe she wants that kind of intimacy that she never had before. But you and her sister are telling her that she shouldn't, maybe she thinks that she and this boy really have a chance together and she could fall for him and leave behind those thoughts of her ex."

She nodded. "I can sort of see you point, despite how deranged it go in the middle of it." She laughed slightly as she thought over his mixed words; she noted to herself that he wasn't good with his words unless it came to songs.

"And as for your brother and , I guess aunt?" when she nodded he continued, "I'm sure that they never thought of it as a mistake to have that child, maybe it was unplanned or something like that but I'm sure that since they both love each other so much, they will make it work when he comes back home." She gave him a watery smile at his words; he never said the word "if" he comes home, he said when and that made her extremely happy to hear that he thought he would come back to them too.

"So," she looked at him as she wiped away the stray tears on her face. "What's been bother you?" He groaned in reply and leaned back against the door.

"What hasn't?" He sighed, "Pressure is a lot of it, my record labels pushing me to get the lyrics done for the music video and they want them done soon but they don't really understand how long it takes to write a proper song, they want perfection out of me but I'm the opposite."

"Why can't you write a song?"

"Well it'd be kind of like why you can't dance to certain music, you need to feel the music and fully connect with it to really move with it don't you?"

"Well that's the way I personally like it but yes."

'Well its similar to that, I need to feel something to inspire my song, for this I would need admiration, love and devotion but as of now I don't really feel any of that and I cannot write a song based off of something fake."

"I'm getting the opinion that something happened?"

"Broke up with my girlfriend a while back."

"Oh? Why? Did something happen?"

"Not really…" He sighed. "I just wasn't really getting that same feeling I was when we first started dating. I had thought I was in love with her and I guess I did love her but I wasn't _in_ love with her. I thought she was the one but I guess I had mistaken love for attraction but to begin with I never really knew what love felt like."

"Well, you thought you were in love with her didn't you?" He nodded and she continued. "Then I don't see anything wrong with that, if you were genuine toward her with your feelings then you shouldn't feel so bad but what did you love about her? Like, what drew you to her?"

"I guess I liked the way she was around em, just like the perfect girl that I had in my head, nice shape, perfect eye colour, she was like the girl of my dreams but I guess it was the little things that made a difference."

"What do you mean?"

"She was perfect to be frank. There wasn't anything wrong with her specifically, she was great, supportive, sweet, cheerfully, but I just didn't feel that connection after getting to know her more."

"So basically she was everything you had ever dreamt of and more?" He nodded. "Well I think that love is where some things about hat person aren't what you thought they would be, I guess…"

"How? Can you give me an example?"

"Umm." She swallowed a sip of her drink that she took and thought for a moment before shifting and sitting up straighter in her seat. "Well, it's like this. Sometimes you meet someone and, even though you never liked brown eyes before, their eyes are your new favourite colour." She looked at him, "Do you see what I mean? Just the little things that you normally wouldn't pay attention to or wouldn't normally go after in a girl would be different with this one person if you loved them."

"Yeah," he nodded. "You're really good at explaining." She smiled in response to his praise.

"But as for your writing, you're just going to find that inspiration you need to write it." He began to drive back to the studio as he shrugged.

"We'll I guess either way it's going to take awhile to get these lyrics done, so we're just going to have to wait and see how everything turns out." She nodded and a few minutes of comfortable silence passed them, Natsu driving in the now sunny area as Lucy laid her head against the window and stared at the passing scenery. Thinking over their conversation and how Natsu had been considerate enough to take time out of his day to talk to her about what was making her feel upset.

"Hey Natsu?" She spoke quietly.

"Yeah, Luce?"

"Thank you." He didn't respond back, only nodded to her and took another turn on the road, in the opposite direction they had come.

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'-_** ** _As I reach out my hand._** ** _'_**

 ** _Fifth Breath_**

* * *

 **ALaViola: So this took me awhile to write, but inspiration suddenly came to me when a big storm hit my area, literally the hail was big and it fucking hurt when it came down like It did. So the second chapter for this should be coming soon after this one is published, otherwise it should already be up by the time you are done reading this one. Thank you guys for being so patient with my updates and being supportive of my break! He ending of this chapter was a little lame and not quite sure if I like it but here it is anyway! Thanks for reading!**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	6. Fifth Breath: Where Everything Starts

**Hello!**

 **This is the last chapter I promised for this story**

 **After my break. The last one was a little short but hopefully this and the**

 **Other one still made up for it!**

 **Thank you guys for reading!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'Cause I wear my heart on my sleeve-'_**

 ** _Fifth Breath: Where Everything Starts_**

* * *

 **OoOoO**

Natsu hummed a tune as he drove up to Lucy's house, such actions having become normal for the singer to do. It had been a few weeks since he had picked his partner up from off the street and attempted to treat her to a donut. Natsu was still under the impression that Lucy and her friend had yet to speak to each other, it seemed her friend had been avoiding her for the last little while. Although, as bad as it may sound, he was sort of glad that they hadn't made up yet, he had grown closer to his friend which helped with loosening up during practice.

She is a lot easier to speak to than he had originally thought.

They still weren't close enough to be "good friends" but he did enjoy his time around her, she was cool when she was being so weird, which he noted Lucy did not like to be called when she screeched at him for it. Despite the yell he still persists with calling her weird to annoy her. On the odd occasion he would purposely screw up her name and call her Luigi. Mavis did she hate that. He chuckled slightly and pulled the car to a stop in front of her house.

Natsu briefly debated on whether or not he should hop out and ring the doorbell but decided against it when the door swung open. His onyx eyes travelled to the familiar blonde and felt a small smirk pull at his lips until he saw the angry look on her face. Her hair was a mess, more so when the wind whipped around and her face bright red, eyes puffy and her clothing seemed different from the usual style she would wear. Considering it was a weekend and a little chilly, he'd expect to see Lucy with a pair of jeans and a small sweater but instead she looked as if she had just hopped out of bed in her short gym shorts that exposed her long legs and the small sweater that exposed her stomach.

Natsu could hear the faint sound of yelling over the wind, watching as another figure walked out of the house, he immediately dismissed the thought of the man being her father seeing as how young the guy looked, perhaps around his own age. Messy brown hair, light blue eyes narrowed angrily at his blonde friend as she stepped toward his truck. Natsu quickly unlocked it and she hurriedly hopped in right after. He waited for her to get settled and fasten her seatbelt, watching as Lucy's brother stopped the man from approaching her in the truck. He sped off before he saw anymore.

He kept his eyes on the road for the most part, glancing at Lucy briefly whenever they came to a stop but other than that he avoided looking at her. It was obvious that she was upset but he felt that it wasn't his place to say anything, especially after witnessing the argument only moments before. "Sorry you had to see that," her voice was contained and a little raspy, as if she had just been crying-he wouldn't have been surprised if she was, her face was an angry red and by the puffiness around her eyes Natsu could have guessed that she's distressed about whatever had just occurred.

"You don't need to apologize," he told her, because really, he didn't mind. An argument like that must have been for a good reason and as long as nobody was injured in the process he was fine-sort of. He didn't like the feeling that pooled in his stomach when Lucy was upset but instead of trying to coax her into anything he would just be there as silent comfort. She could tell him if she was comfortable.

"…You aren't going to ask?" She looked away from him so she was looking out the window.

"No," he shook his head, "It's not my place to ask." _But I want to._ She nodded and took a small shuddering breath, curling in on herself and rested her head against the window. Considering the weather, Natsu assumed that the coolness of the window felt nice against her flushed face. Natsu knew she didn't want to talk; she seemed to be thinking heavily, most likely about the argument which brought Natsu's thoughts to the man yelling at her. He assumed that was not her brother based on the description Lucy had given him about her twin, Sting.

So who was he?

He shook his head and pulled into the studio driveway. He was sure that Lucy was not going to be in the mood to deal with any bullshit. They hopped out of his vehicle and quickly got to work when they were in the studio, warming up before beginning their practice. Natsu had to admit that their dance was coming along well, he still wasn't the best at everything they were doing but Lucy was working hard to help get him to the best he could be.

Natsu still went on runs and did yoga with Lucy; however he never knew how little cardio he really had until he began those regular jogs with the blonde. Sure he had muscular endurance, the results coming in the shape of his muscular arms and hard stomach but he wasn't much of a cardio fan. Actually he never really did like running; that was more Mest's thing.

Now that he thought about it, Mest was the only one who really liked to run out of all of them in the band, Gajeel and himself liked weight training, Lyon skates and Jackal… well Jackal is a lazy piece of shit, Natsu couldn't remember the last time he had seen the guy walk without complaining that his feet hurt.

Natsu sighed once they came to a stop in their practice, taking a slight break for a bit and eat something and get a drink. "So how have things been going with you and the guys?" Lucy asked as she sipped at her water and he shrugged,

"Alright I guess, under a bit of pressure to get things done by the end of June." They only had a few more months left to prepare for that but with all the things they had to do and learn, they were going to need all of that time to finish. "Not like we can speed up the process much, guys are still stressing over some things and doubting I can actually make this dance work but I'm doing well."

"That you are." She smiled, "And then you'll be able to prove to everyone that you can dance."

 _"I'm all fired up!"_ He grinned, liking how she laughed at his actions. "How have things been going for you in the studio?"

"Fairly well," she tilted her head. "Although I have been having some troubles, considering it's for a wide variety of arts students we're doing every one dances taught here so plenty of students don't have the same dance techniques." He looked at her oddly,

"And _you're_ having trouble with your art assignment?"

"Well every person in the class is paired up at random with a person of the opposite gender," she explained briefly before continuing, "The pairs have to choreograph a dance together and perform in front of the others and welcomed guests by mid-May the latest, four weeks."

"Okay so what's the problem?"

"I'm not really on good terms with my dance partner at the moment and I'm finding it hard to choreograph anything that I'd like to." Natsu nodded as he listened, it was a similar situation to his own, only he was writing words down on paper while she had to feel the emotions through her body. If she couldn't get along with this person while she choreographs, he could only assume that the dance would not be as in sync as it would be if they were getting along. Chemistry and emotions were everything in art.

"Well how about I tell you something I do when I'm stuck on my writing? I don't know if it will help much but I can at least give you some advice," She seemed to think for a minute before nodding and sitting up straighter. He chuckled quietly at her movements; she looked to be an attentive student. "Sometimes when I get stuck on writing something because of a certain person I'm not very close with at the moment I try to think of the things that we had done when we were close."

"Like think back on happy memories?"

"Exactly, just think of how you felt in that moment, try to base your dance off of your feelings of past memories." He though a moment, "Say you've picked your song, make sure it represents the chemistry between the two of you, things are tense but you want to grasp onto those connections you had, pick music that will put the audience at the edge of their seats. Then your dance should represent those emotions but you also need to feel the music." She most likely already knew what he was saying and was just boring her now but he would continue to say it until she told him to stop.

"If you're going for a darker dance like I said, feel the emotions-not all bad- and feel the music, make the two of you fight while your dancing but as you push each other back, show the remorse on your face, like you miss each other." He scratched his head, "I'm not really good with explaining stuff but, do you get it?"

"Yeah," Lucy was already beginning to plan something in her head. Natsu couldn't help but smile at her; he noticed that she often got this bright shine to her dark eyes whenever she would think about the choreography for a dance she was planning. He wondered if this was how he looked whenever her got inspiration to write and came up with some new lyrics, his friends often told him that the pride was always evident on his face whenever he showed them the new song. Natsu felt happy to know that someone else got just as excited about their type of art work as he did with his lyrics.

"Lucy?" Natsu's head turned to look at the person who had called his best friends name; it was the man that had been yelling at her when he went to pick her up. He looked to be a bit worse for wear and now that he could really see the man closely, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the tension drawn in his face. Natsu didn't like the looks of this guy, something about him just put him off and he had to stop himself form glaring at the man. His eyes shifted to the blonde, trying to see if she didn't want to speak to the man but she didn't seem as angry anymore. The man stepped forward, eyes locked on Lucy's, "Can I speak to you in private?" Lucy turned to him with a complicated look and he rose.

"I'm just going to go buy us some snacks." He announced, brushing past the guy and silently made his way out into the hall. Natsu made his way toward the vending machines; this would at least give them a few minutes to talk things over. He still was a little hesitant to leave the room due to the intensity of the argument from earlier but Natsu wanted to respect Lucy's privacy and decided against waiting outside the door.

After pressing a few buttons on the machine as it ate his money, he quickly grabbed the snacks for himself and Lucy, Doritos for him and a granola bar for her. He made a face at the food and sighed, Lucy had explained that she was on a strict diet plan the last time he had gone to get them food and made the mistake of getting her chips. Natsu still didn't understand why her dietary plan was as strict as it is, it wasn't as if she needed to lose any weight, sure sometimes he found her heavy-not that he would say it aloud- but she's extremely thin. He understood that she needed to be healthy especially since she is a dancer but that didn't mean she had to cut out _all_ fats from her diet.

Natsu paused when he heard the faint voices coming from the studio room, "Dan that isn't even the problem-" _So that's his name._

"Then what is-Lucy she's just my partner, you know this."

"Doesn't mean nothing will happen."

 _Are they dating?_ "Hey-I like you, not her." That answered it for him. Dan's tone sounded gentle and assuring, he understood why Lucy was so upset earlier. She had thought Dan was cheating on her.

"Promise?" Her voice was so soft, and weak. Natsu couldn't believe it, this was a side of Lucy he hadn't encountered yet, she sounded so insecure and worried-although Natsu didn't find it odd for him not to hear her like this considering they weren't best friends or anything, or _dating_ for that matter but it still surprised him to hear something other than the usual confident and bossy Lucy he was used to.

"I promise LuLu."

"…Okay," Natsu took that moment to open the door and walk in, catching the two separating from a hug and watched as Lucy turned to him, her face looked a little flushed and eyes a little swollen again but other than that she seemed to be better than prior to their conversation. He nodded to her and tossed her granola bar, opening his bag of chips while she caught it with ease. Dan was staring at him, he noticed, probably a bit curious of whom he is but he would leave the introduction to Lucy if she found it necessary. For now, he would just enjoy his chips.

Dan's eyes lingered on him for a moment longer before shifting back to Lucy as he kissed her cheek, giving her a brief farewell before exiting the studio. She stood there for a moment, her face blank as she stared at the door to the studio room; she seemed to be deep in thought. He only had to wait a moment before she snapped out of her thoughts and sat beside him, he swallowed, "Everything alright?"

"Hm?" She blinked, "Oh! Yeah, everything is fine."

"You seemed to be thinking about something a second ago…" He paused, unsure where he was going with this. She smiled for a minute before biting into her granola bar,

"I was, there are a few things I need to think about, but everything's fine." She nodded as she finished up her food and swiped away at the crumbs on her clothes. "Are you ready to get back to practice?" He smirked and hopped up,

 _"I'm all fired up!"_

 ** _…_**

"Thanks for driving me Natsu," Lucy smiled at Natsu as he pulled to a stop in front of her house. For once she was thankful for him having the death trap-she needed to get away from the house quickly and had she walked to the studio alone Dan would not have let her have a chance to think. She doubted anything would have come to the same conclusion as it did, had Dan chased after her and if Natsu hadn't come and taken her away.

"'Course," he grinned, unlocking the door for her, "what kind of partner would I be if I let you tire yourself out before you even got to the studio?" She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest,

"Says the guy who cannot handle yoga." She laughed and shook her head, "Seriously, how hard is it for you to touch your toes?"

"Hey! Don't be mean!" The small quirk of his lips told Lucy he wasn't really mad despite his raised voice, "I don't have sloth arms like you!"

"Excuse you," she stuck her tongue out. "It's called flexibility, Natsu."

"Whatever."

She giggled at his pout before smiling at him, "But seriously thank you. Also, thank you for your advice today, it helped me a lot." With more than he thought it did. Natsu just blinked at her and shrugged, his smile relaxed, and nonchalant.

"Well, what are friends for?" She paused, looking at him through the open window, she felt her eyes soften slightly and her face relax at his words. Nodding, she agreed.

"Yeah, friends."

* * *

 ** _Still Breathing_**

 ** _'-_** ** _if you cut me I'll bleed.'_**

 ** _Sixth Breath_**

* * *

 **ALaViola: So this chapter took me a few days to write and I am finally writing it the day before my literacy test! Yay! I don't mind though, I did good on the practice test we had and then almost perfect on our practice sheets we got yesterday so I'm pretty confident with that. On the other hand I'm pretty sure I failed my history test, did not study for that at all. Anyway, this was my last promised updated for this story and I hope you enjoyed it and didn't find it too rushed! As a small assurance, my chapters will not continue to be this short, they will get back to their original length by the next update.  
Thanks for reading!**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	7. Yes Im Back

_**So Hey! Firstly I would like to apologize, i have not updated in forever and left you guys without any updates for months. Im so so so sorry for that. School took up most of my time as well as dance classes, I'm a month into summer at the moment however the first month was taken up by summer school-it sucks shit so study hard for whoever is in school!**_ **I am back** _ **, I'm currently writing a chapter for**_ **Still Breathing** **and Hells Gate** _**because those stories have gone the longest without an update so i am prioritizing those two at the moment (that doesn't mean that i will forget about my other stories however).**_

 _ **It was kind of sad going through my email and seeing just how many updates I've missed for FanFiction, I am soooo behind on everything on here and again I want to apologize for that, life got in the way. I have read each and every single one of your reviews and I would like to thank everyone who has left me one, you kept me thinking for my next updates! Thank you so much for that.**_

 **Expect an update soon Guys.**

 _ **Hope you all are doing well!**_

 _ **~ALaViola**_


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